From the 24th to the 26th of February, 2020, Delhi was engulfed in massive communal riots, where Islamic mobs targeted Hindu businesses and homes. Delhi Police Head Constable Ratan Lal was one of the first victims. Ratan Lal was mercilessly lynched by a crazed Islamist mob while he was trying to do his duty on the main Wazirabad Road, Chand Bagh. The 42-year-old police officer lived with his family in Amrit Vihar, Burari, Delhi.
Three years after the riots, OpIndia contacted the family members of the deceased constable to learn that they have shifted to Rajasthan’s Jaipur a year ago. Ratan Lal’s wife Poonam said that two years after Ratan Lal’s death, she and her three children decided to leave Delhi forever and shift to Jaipur, where Poonam’s parents stay.
She said that managing finances in the city after Ratan Lal’s death was difficult and that their poor financial conditions forced her to leave the capital city. “Rs 1 crore provided by the Delhi government in two parts was slowly being spent and the government job given by the Delhi Police has been reserved in the name of his minor son, who is still studying. We are also getting some of Ratan Lal’s pension amount, which is spent in the daily course,” she said. Poonam who lives with her parents now in Jaipur says that her three children are still studying.
Letters written to CM Arvind Kejriwal remained unacknowledged
Ratan Lal’s wife further stated that after her husband attained Veergati, Delhi CM Kejriwal had promised her a job, which is yet to be fulfilled. She said she wrote several e-mails and letters to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking a job to teach in a school in the Burari area, but those letters went unacknowledged. “I also sent several letters to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi regarding my job but nothing has happened so far. If I manage to get a job in Delhi, I will come back once again with my family,” she added. Poonam holds a Master’s degree and also a degree in B.ed.
Similarly, according to Poonam, JP Nadda had also assured her monetary assistance of Rs 1 crore, which she has not received yet. She also said that none of the shortcomings she had listed while giving an interview to OpIndia last year, were fulfilled and that her financial condition is not that good.
Ratan Lal’s home got buried due to AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha’s orders
Poonam told OpIndia that her house in Delhi has been buried under the mud due to the order given by the Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Burari Assembly, Sanjeev Jha. According to Poonam, MLA Sanjeev Jha was getting some work done in that area, due to which her house in Delhi has been ruined, and a lot of money will have to be invested in it to repair it again. The victim’s wife cited this as a major reason for not having enough money with her and locking her house in Delhi for the time being. “The house is buried in the mud and is completely ruined. We can’t even give it on rent,” she added.
She stated that it had been three years since the incident and now all the politicians and media persons have also stopped calling us. She said people now remember martyrs only on August 15 and January 26. Expressing her pain, Poonam said that she would pay homage to her husband at a martyr’s memorial in Jaipur.
Last year, OpIndia talked to Poonam. She then was living in Amrit Vihar, Burari, Delhi. She had said that several of the government pledges had not been delivered. “The Delhi government gave us one crore rupees in two installments. Many others had made promises at the time that had not been kept. It was sought that a gate is built in his (Ratan Lal) name in Burari, but this request was also ignored. We had also urged CM Arvind Kejriwal to provide me with a job based on my educational qualification, but that request, too, has been ignored,” Poonam had said.
However, she praised Delhi Police saying that issued a medal in his (Ratan Lal) name on August 15. This medal had also been approved by CP Sahib (Police Commissioner Delhi). “In Delhi, police officers will now be awarded medals in his memory. This is good to know,” she was quoted.
Ratan Lal was a resident of Rajasthan
Lal belonged to Fathepur Tihwali village in Rajasthan’s Sikar district. Lal is survived by his wife and three children. The Sikar resident had joined the Delhi Police in the post of constable in 1998. He married a Jaipur resident in 2004. Ratan Lal was posted at Gokulpuri Police Station. He used to live with his family in a house in Delhi’s Burari area.
A mob attacked police officers stationed in Maujpur, Delhi’s North-East area, on February 24, 2020. Ratan Lal died from a bullet wound, according to the autopsy report. A video surfaced in March 2020 where a violent mob of rioters can be seen attacking the Delhi Police officers with stones and sticks.
The Special Investigation Team of Delhi Police had in June 2020 filed a 1,100-page charge sheet in the case of the murder of Ratan Lal and deadly attacks by rioters on IPS Amit Sharma and IPS Anuj Kumar. At least 17 accused had been named in the charge sheet. The police stated that the riots were engineered in Delhi through a conspiracy to malign the image of the country.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed Parliament on 12 March 2020 that all the accused in the Ratan Lal case have been arrested by Delhi Police. In September 2021, however, 5 of the accused persons in Ratan Lal’s murder were granted bail by the Delhi High Court.
