The fact-finding committee from NGO Anhad that recently visited Dhule to investigate the January 6 riots made its interim report public on Tuesday. The panel comprising activist Shabnam Hashmi, Dr Ram Puniyani, professor Apoorvanand — representing the team of seven members — highlighted the police atrocities as well as the lapses during and after the riots.
Dr Puniyani, said, “The policemen only suffered minor injuries but claim that they were badly wounded. A total of 152 policemen were admitted to the government hospital, but only 18 remained there and the rest were discharged on the first day. This shows that the claims made by the police was a sham.”
According to the report, the policemen were “one-sided” during the riots and targetted only those belonging to a particular community. They added that the police could have easily averted the incident, however, their role only magnified the severity of the riots.
To support their arguments, the members of the NGO said that the video released by the police themselves shows the nature of brutality put into operation and clearly reveals how the police action was wrong.
Other committee members, Ms Hashmi and professor Apoorvanand also questioned the chief minister Prithviraj Chavan’s visit. “Why did the CM visit Dhule a week after the incident? Are the numbers of the deceased insignificant?” they asked. The panelists also said that after being subjected to pressure, the CM has ordered a judicial inquiry into the riots.
Representatives of Anhad also pointed out that during the Mantralaya fire the families of the victims were compensated with `25 lakh, however, a mere `5 lakh compensation has been given to families of those who died in the Dhule riots. The committee said that it is going to hand over the report to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) soon.
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Judicial probe inititated in dhule riots
Age correspondent
Mumbai, jan. 15
CM Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday announced that a judicial inquiry will be conducted into the Dhule riots that took place last week. Earlier, the government had ordered a magisterial probe. The CM and home minister R.R. Patil visited Dhule on Tuesday.
“We have decided to appoint a retired high court judge to find out the reasons behind the riots and suggest measures to be taken to avoid such incidents in future,” the CM said.
Mr Patil announced that the local Azad Nagar police station will be bifurcated, considering the crime rate and population of the area and an additional police station will be set up. “The civic body will also be provided adequate police protection to carry out evictions of illegal structures,” Mr Patil said.