Injured cops relate horror stories in Delhi's Jahangirpuri violence during Hanuman Jayanti procession

Delhi Police Sub-Inspector Medalal Meena, injured in last night's violence, was hit by a bullet that pierced through his hand.

Meena told the media that he was on duty at the back of the procession but came to the front when the altercation broke out.

"An argument started at the front, I went there. It turned into a brawl. Then stone-throwing started in front of mosque. But the staff separated the two groups.

"The Hanuman Jayanti procession people were sent to the G block side. Then they reached Kushal Chowk from there. Those coming from C block side were stopped there. Then there was peace. But then more crowd came with rods and swords, and more stone-throwing started from among them. There were ladies gents and kids. Bullets were fired too. I was hit in my hand," he was quoted as saying by NDTV.

The police have arrested 14 men in the case so far.

Among them is Aslam, who, the police say, shot at Sub-Inspector Meena. A countrymade pistol has been recovered from him, said the NDTV report

According to the police, another man Ansar started the quarrel. He has also been arrested, the police said, it added.

According to the First Information Report filed in the case, the rally was passing by a mosque when Ansar, allegedly started arguing with those participating in the rally, stated the report

The altercation soon escalated and both sides started throwing stones at each other, the FIR says, it added.

However, the family of the individual, who fired the bullet, has claimed that he is a minor, said an India Today report, adding that they showed a birth certificate claimed to prove that he was born in 2005.

The police claimed in an FIR filed in connection with the clash on Saturday that the accused was 22 years old, the report stated.

They have even said that the accused is a repeat offender as he was involved in another case in 2020.

As the two groups clashed, stones were pelted and some vehicles were torched in the violence that occurred at around 6 pm on Saturday, police said. Locals claimed that six rounds of gunshots were fired during the clash, stated the India Today report.

ASI Arun Kumar was hit by a stone during the clashes and sustained injuries to his leg and shoulders.

He told India Today that he was a part of the rally from the start and was behind the car in which the idol was placed.

When the procession reached Kushal Chowk a mob suddenly rushed towards the procession, Kumar recounted.

"Words cannot describe what I saw. There was a commotion all around," he said. The mob included women, children and the elderly," he was quoted as saying by India Today.

With this altercation began and stone-pelting and abuse were hurled from both sides.

"We tried to calm them down but no one was ready to listen to us," he said.

ASI Arun Kumar recalled that everyone had swords and knives in their hands. He could see stones and bottles all around, the India Today report stated.

"People started running, leaving their cars behind, they were trying to burn the cars. We were stopping them," he said, adding, "I was trying to remove everyone, I was saving the people when I was hit with a stone."

As many as nine people, including eight policemen and one civilian, were injured in the clash. The injured were admitted to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital.