Bhagat said he was posted in Sector 1 of District 1, which includes the main Jantar Mantar area, and was handling day and evening shifts.
Tensions continued at Jantar Mantar on Thursday as the Cockroach Janta Party’s protest entered its 34th day. Amid allegations of police actions during the ‘Sansad march’, ACP Vivek Bhagat, who was injured when chaos broke out near Jantar Mantar on Wednesday, narrated what happened. He claimed that the police officers who accompanied him were targeted and attacked by a crowd of people while they were on their way to perform their duty.
Recalling what happened, he alleged that water bottles were thrown at employees in front of him and crowds raised “anti-social” slogans. He said one of the individuals was attacked and then tried to intervene.
ACP (CP) Vivek Bhagat was among the five policemen who were injured after protesters and security personnel clashed on Sansad Marg, as HT reported earlier.
Bhagat said he was posted in Sector 1 of District 1, which includes the main Jantar Mantar area, and was handling day and evening shifts. He told news agency ANI that the accident occurred while he was traveling from Regal Building in Connaught Place towards Sansad Marg during his evening shift.
Recalling how the crowd overpowered one of the officers, Bhagat told the news agency: “Once our policemen moved back and forth a little bit there, some of them came forward to save their lives and the crowd overpowered one of them. Blood was coming out of his head. His whole face was covered in blood, so I tried to intervene to save him from there.”
He added that the police team was able to transport the injured officer a short distance, but the size and aggressiveness of the crowd made the situation difficult.
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“We even got ahead of him by a meter or two, but the crowd was huge and very violent. They even overpowered me,” Bahjat said.
Bahgat also claimed that the crowd targeted police personnel during the confrontation.
He added: “The crowd was very violent. Police officers were specifically targeted, isolated and attacked…”
“Throwing water bottles at employees”
Recalling the incident, Bhagat said he was accompanied by ACP controller Rohit, operator Navneet and a team of five to six police personnel.
He said the team noticed that the police officers in front of them were facing a crowd of people.
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“As we were walking forward, we realized that water bottles were being thrown at the employees in front of us, and anti-social chants and slogans were being raised against the police,” Bhagat said.
Some police officers reportedly moved back and forth in an attempt to protect themselves, but one officer was trapped in the crowd.
Justice and Development Party protests continue
Abhijit Debaki on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accept the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, warning that protests would escalate if the demand was ignored. Speaking to the media in Delhi, Dibek said the agitation would no longer be limited to demanding Pradhan’s resignation if the Center failed to act.
“Modi ji, I once again request you to accept Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. Otherwise, the issue will not remain limited to Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation alone; it will come to your resignation as well,” he said.
(With inputs from Annie)
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