Councillors stopped from marching to CP’s home

Ghaziabad: A group of councillors scuffled with police personnel as they were stopped from marching to police commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra’s residence in Raj Nagar on Thursday to protest against the “arbitrary” arrest of Sudhir Kumar. Kumar, the councillor of ward number 28, was arrested on Monday for allegedly vandalising a roadside kiosk and thrashing its owner and sons. On Thursday, 35 councillors, mostly from the BJP, met additional CP Kalpana Saxena but said were not satisfied with the outcome and tried to march to the CP’s house.“Police personnel tried to lock us up on the additional CP’s office premises by closing the gate when we tried to march towards the CP’s residence. We forced our way out of the premises and gathered on the Hapur Chungi Road (near the Collectorate) for a sit-in,” Sheetal Choudhary, BJP councillor from ward number 9, said. Choudhary said the CP had agreed to meet a delegation on Friday. “We have been assured that an investigation will be carried out in a time-bound manner by the DCP,” she said.On Wednesday, over 40 councillors from across parties met mayor Sunita Dayal. They claimed Kumar’s arrest was “vindictive” and alleged that the complainant was trying to frame Kumar.“The police also showed haste in registering an FIR under stringent IPC sections against Kumar, as if he was a hardened criminal,” councillor Ram Niwas Bansal said.He demanded action against the SHO and chowki in charge who arrested Kumar. “A case should also be lodged against the vendor. Kumar was provoked by the vendor when he asked them to shut their shop. The vendor invoked Kumar’s caste and also threatened him, which infuriated the councillor,” Bansal said.A senior police officer told TOI that the councillors scuffled with the cops when they were stopped from marching to the CP’s residence in Raj Nagar from the additional CP’s office. It triggered a traffic jam on Hapur Chungi Road, the officer said. The officer said police “have ample proof (against Kumar), and the matter was properly investigated before making an arrest”.Kumar, his two brothers, and 12 unknown persons were booked under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (intimidation), 392 (robbery), and 354 (assault on women) after a complaint was submitted by a vendor at Sahibabad police station. The complainant claimed Kumar had been demanding Rs 6,000 per month from vendors in the area as a ‘goonda tax’ and when they denied it, Kumar and his men vandalised their kiosk and thrashed her family.