police opened fire to control a mob which clashed with the police over the construction of a police station on a disputed graveyard.
Two people were killed and 42 injured on Wednesday when the police opened fire to control a mob which clashed with the police over the construction of a police station on a disputed graveyard in Bhiwandi. The injured include 33 police officers, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Zone II, RD Shinde, and DCP, special branch, Ashok Deshbhratar.
The police claimed that on Wednesday, they tried to disperse the mob with mild cane charge and tear gas, but the mob pelted stones and damaged five police vehicles and other passing cars. They said four rounds were fired at the police from the mob before cops opened fire.
At around 3pm a group of women tried to bring down the constructed part of the police station (CST 573) which the community claims is being built on the land they have been using as graveyard (CST 592). They also claim that the site plan approved by the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation restricts the police from using the particular stretch of land for construction.
Shamim Momin, president of Tanzim Tahfooz Qabrastan Committee, said, “The community had made representations on June 16, July 23 and July 4 to government officials and had a protest rally at Azad Maidan. Had these been headed to be the government authorities the situation would not have flared up.” The community claims that the police station has all its drainage and sewage pipes pouring into the graveyard, and it is a disrespect to the Quran.
According to Shakil Raza of Raza Academy, the incident happened because the police was not willing to listen to what the crowd had to say and started caning people without any warning. “We even tried to take the police into confidence and talk things out but officials refused to listen. Then DCP Shinde ordered them to open fire. First to be killed was 20-year-old Ramzan of Quereshi Nagar. Then 45-year-old Mallik Abdul Khlaqui was killed.”
The police say the construction of the four-storey station, which will house the offices of assistant commissioners of police, is not at all illegal and the community was opposing it because it does not want a police station in the locality.
Home Minister RR Patil invited members of the community to find a solution. Sohail Raza of the Raza Academy said, “The home minister has ordered an inquiry and has declared Rs1 lakh compensation for the dead and Rs50,000 to the injured. He has also ordered that construction work be stopped till further notice.”
DCP Shinde was rushed to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, Bhiwandi, and was later shifted to Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai. Three companies of State Reserve Police Force were deployed and curfew imposed in places.
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