A fight started over the issue of parking at Tis Hazari court flared into a battle between lawyers and policemen on Saturday afternoon, with lawyers reportedly taking law into their own hands and beating up policemen. In response, the policemen also unleashed violence against the lawyers injuring two of them.
According to the reports, the lawyers went on the rampage at the court premises and attacked the policeman by entering the police station after a fight broke out between lawyers and policemen near the premises of Tis Hazari court.
Goons in black. Kudos to this brave mob. Watch. pic.twitter.com/Nu0U0cdFBM
— Raj Shekhar Jha (@rajshekharTOI) November 3, 2019
Reportedly, the attack on policemen by the lawyers is being said to be the spark for the clashes that took between two groups on Saturday. In reaction to the vandalism by lawyers, a group of policemen dragged and hit a lone lawyer triggering further violence.
This CCTV shows this group of policemen dragging and hitting a lone lawyer. Will not hesitate in saying that they behaved like #GoonsInKhaki as well. Shameful. pic.twitter.com/kp2MAuzFA9
— Raj Shekhar Jha (@rajshekharTOI) November 3, 2019
According to the reports, the incident began around 3 pm on Saturday when a policeman of the Delhi Police got into a fight with a lawyer over parking his car outside the jail lockup, a space reserved for jail vans. However, the argument turned violent when a group of lawyers who were campaigning for the bar council elections got into a heated exchange with the police.
The cops allegedly dragged a few of them and took them to the lockup. While this was happening, some lawyers reportedly set a few bikes parked outside the lockup on fire. Lawyers even attacked journalists, covering the incident.
Later, the police lathi-charged the lawyers and reportedly damaged their cars and chambers on the court premises. The Delhi Police claimed 20 police officers and 12 lawyers were injured in the clash.
During the clash, an advocate named Vijay Verma was allegedly shot, leading to lawyers setting up fire on police vans. The lawyer was admitted to St. Stephen’s hospital and is under observation.
Additional DCP (north) Harender Singh said that a team of police reached the spot to control the situation but they got into a scuffle. The police allege that a group of about 150-200 lawyers tried to break down the gates of the lockup, at which point a cop fired at Vijay Verma, one of the protesting lawyers. The bullet hit him on his right chest and he collapsed on the spot. Another lawyer identified as Ravi also sustained bullet injuries on his right hand.
