Amid the ongoing hearing in the SC regarding the Hathras case, the Uttar Pradesh police have submitted an affidavit before the apex court. In the affidavit, the Uttar Pradesh police have cited reports by Delhi police and intelligence department warning them of an opposition’s conspiracy in the Hathras case.
Political party functionaries instigated the Hathras victim’s family
The affidavit by UP Police states that functionaries of various political parties had reached the Safdarganj hospital shortly after the victim had succumbed to her injuries and provoked her family not to accept the body until their demands were met.
The Uttar Pradesh police also attached a report by the intelligence department dated September 29 which spoke about how organisations associated with Valmiki community, Bhim Army and Azad Samaj Party might gather in Hathras in large numbers to stage a protest which might take a violent turn.
Opposition party members spearheaded the protest
The Uttar Pradesh police in the affidavit also cited a report sent by the Deputy Commissioner of Police of South-West District of Delhi to the Secretary of Home Department, Turna Gaba, on October 4. The report stated that as soon as the post mortem of the deceased started, people started gathering in large numbers, including Dalit activist Udit Raj, Bhima Army Chief Chandra Shekhar Azad and former Congress MP PL Punia and their supporters. Thereafter, AAP MLA Rakhi Birla started staging a protesting. The police appealed to them to maintain peace but to no avail, stated the report.
Uttar Pradesh Police not allowed to talk to the victim’s family
The Delhi Police report also stated that the people present there were instigating the victim’s family to not accept the body of the victim until their demands were met. Some protesters were demanding that the chief minister should come to the hospital personally and assure the family. It read that the victim’s family which was under the influence of these political leaders were surrounded by a huge crowd of people who did not allow the Police officers to meet and talk to the family.
Reports warned of violent agitations over the Hathras victim’s dead body
The UP Police has also cited an intelligence report shared by the SP, law and order, on September 29. It had warned that upon the arrival of the victim’s body in Hathras, her relatives and the political parties may bar the family to perform her last rites. There were inputs that they might indulge in a violent protest by keeping the victim’s body on the road. They might agitate and also resort to stone pelting, the intel report cited.
The report further stated that protestors might block trains, burn effigies and create a ruckus. Basically, the reports cited that a conspiracy was being hatched to trigger unrest over the Hathras incident. Based on these inputs, later, the UP Police registered 19 FIRs against 700 people who were accused of conspiring in the brutal incident.
Citing similar reasons the Uttar Pradesh Government had asked for a Supreme Court-monitored CBI probe into the case.
