Anuj Kumar, former Assistant Commissioner of Police (Gokulpuri, North East Delhi), who suffered a grave head injury during the riots that killed 53 people, has reportedly been elevated to the post of Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police. Kumar had been appointed as Additional DCP of the South District, Delhi Police.
At least 11 police personnel including DCP Shahdara Amit Sharma and Anuj Kumar, were injured during the violence on 24th February in North East Delhi.
When Sharma met Commissioner SN Srivastava, he narrated the incident and explained how he had rescued his colleagues including Shahdara DCP Amit Sharma on February 24 when they were attacked by violent Muslim mobs. Speaking to ANI, Sharma said the DCP fell unconscious after sustaining serious injuries and was rushed towards Yamuna Vihar side by them.
“On February 24, Shahdara DCP Amit Sharma got injured and fell unconscious beside the divider of Wazirabad Road in Chand Bagh where people had turned violent. Two other police personnel and I got him up and took him to the Yamuna Vihar side,” he said. This was done while stones were being pelted at us by the violent mob, he added. Anuj Sharma said that their team was trying to hold talks with the mob peacefully and asked them to stay confined to service road instead of the main road. But there was a rumour that some women and children got injured in police firing which acted as a catalyst and crowd got berserk.
“We had two companies accompanied by some local staff so we were approximately 250 personnel whereas the crowd was close to 25,000 to 30,000. We were steadily trying to persuade the ladies and the crowd but somebody started stone pelting and the situation got spiralled. As the distance between us and the mob was very less, tear gas was also not effective and the divider behind us was acted as a wall which created mayhem like situation,” he added while recalling the horrific turn of event.
Murder of constable Ratan Lal
Constable Ratan Lal was murdered on February 24 when he was shot at by rioters while patrolling along with his seniors. The police had alleged in the charge-sheet that a group of 45 people held a meeting in the basement of a house on February 22, where the conspiracy of the riot was conceived. On February 23, after the conspiracy was hatched, rioters asked senior citizens and children to stay indoors as they ran riot on the streets, indulging in vandalism.
