BKU-Swaraj members have, however, alleged that a group of BJP workers attacked them with iron rods and sticks on Monday night when they were protesting outside the police station. Two days after clashes took place allegedly between members of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Swaraj) and BJP workers in Kasganj town that left 16 people seriously injured, police have registered three FIRs and transferred a sub-inspector to the police lines. No one has been arrested till now.
Police said a group of farmers, affiliated with BKU-Swaraj, ransacked Kasganj Kotwali Police Station on Monday night after a daylong protest against a sub-inspector for allegedly demanding bribe.
BKU-Swaraj members have, however, alleged that a group of BJP workers attacked them with iron rods and sticks on Monday night when they were protesting outside the police station. They also accused the police of being hand in glove with BJP workers.
The local BJP unit, on the other hand, alleged that BKU-Swaraj workers gheraoed a party leader and beat him up.
Police have lodged an FIR against 51 BKU workers and 150 unidentified people for “assaulting policemen on duty, trying to breach peace and ransacking office”. The other two cross-FIRs have been registered on complaints lodged by BKU-Swaraj leader Sujeet Satyadarshi and BJP’s farmer unit district chief DS Lodhi.
“On Monday afternoon, people associated with a farmer union were protesting at Kotwali police station demanding action against an S-I. Kasganj SP has ordered an inquiry. In the evening, protesters indulged in violence… We will take strict legal action against these elements,” DIG (Aligarh Range) Deepak Kumar said.
Siddarth Tomar, the in-charge of Kasganj Kotwali said police had to resort to lathicharge on the protesters as they had turned violent. “The investigation is on. The arrests will be made after we complete our probe,” said Tomar.
BKU-Swaraj leader Satyadarshi said: “While we were protesting, senior police and administrative officials came for negotiation, but we refused to leave the police station till action was taken against the erring cop. Around 9 pm, when we were still protesting, electricity in the area suddenly went out. Soon, scores of BJP workers, led by the party’s Kasganj unit chief KP Singh Solanki and the district chief of the party’s farmer’s cell, DS Lodhi, attacked us with iron rods and sticks, causing grievous injuries to more than three dozen farmers.”
BKU-Swaraj state chief Ashish Pandey alleged that BJP workers attacked his outfit’s members with the “help from police”.
BJP’s Kasganj district unit chief KP Singh, however, dismissed the allegations levelled by BKU-Swaraj, and called them “baseless”. BJP leader Lodhi said: “Around 9 pm on Monday, We were going to watch Ramlila. When we reached the Kotwali thana, scores of BKU-Swaraj workers attacked us. We would have been seriously injured had the police not intervened.”
Based on Lodhi’s complaint, police have booked BKU-Swaraj leaders Kuldeep Pandey, Ashish Pandey and 50 others.
Meanwhile, CMO (Kasganj) AP Kishore confirmed that nearly four dozen people were injured in Monday’s clashes.