Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
It was a Friday, and reports of crime and other developments in Delhi had been trickling in since morning when a call came saying Rahul Gandhi had reached the Connaught Place police station. My first reaction was disbelief. Why would the Leader of the Opposition be at a police station? I wondered if the information was wrong.
I was nearby, but could not immediately reach any police official. So I decided to check for myself. Just then, another update came in: Rahul Gandhi had moved to the New Delhi DCP’s office.
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There was no longer any doubt. I turned my vehicle towards the DCP’s office. But as I tried to enter from Ashoka Road towards Sansad Marg, the route was already blocked.
It was around noon. Rahul Gandhi’s vehicle and security personnel were outside, while the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha himself was inside the DCP’s office.
I soon learnt that 19-year-old Sahil Lochab was with him. Sahil had alleged that he suffered pellet-gun injuries during the July 20 protest. He was accompanied by his mother and lawyer.
The matter had by then turned into a political battle. Sahil’s complaint concerned the alleged use of pellet guns during the protest, an issue on which the Congress had been demanding accountability from the Delhi Police.
A little later, Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala and Kumari Selja emerged from the DCP’s office carrying a copy of the complaint. They went back inside shortly afterwards.
Around 30 minutes later, Rahul Gandhi, Sahil and the latter’s mother came out. Rahul Gandhi sat down in a dharna on the premises. Police personnel arranged chairs for those around him.
The scene changed almost immediately.
Some Congress workers entered the station and sat on the ground beside Gandhi.
Slogans were raised, sometimes against the police and sometimes against BJP leaders. At other moments, devotional songs were sung. What had been an ordinary police station had suddenly turned into the centre of a political protest.
Those inside could not easily move out. Those outside could not find their way in.
Rahul Gandhi soon made his position clear: he would not leave until an FIR was registered.
The police, however, maintained that Sahil’s complaint had already been received. They said the Crime Branch was investigating the cases arising from the July 20 events and that Sahil’s complaint would be forwarded to the Crime Branch.
For Rahul Gandhi, that was not enough.
Addressing the media, he said pellets had struck Sahil and alleged that several remained lodged in his body, including around his eye and near his heart. He questioned the Delhi Police’s assertion that its personnel had not fired pellet guns and demanded to know who had used them.
“We will not leave until the FIR is registered,” Gandhi said, making the demand the centrepiece of the protest.
The standoff continued.
Congress Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh arrived. The police station gates were closed as the crowd outside grew. Congress workers gathered around the premises, while senior police officers tried to manage the situation.
DCP Sachin Sharma came out several times and spoke to the Rai Bareli MP, attempting to persuade him to end the protest. Rahul Gandhi, however, remained seated.
As the afternoon wore on, the pressure became increasingly visible. Leaders moved between the DCP’s office and Gandhi’s sit-in, while police officials discussed the legal implications of the complaint.
Around 4 pm, there appeared to be progress towards a resolution. Randeep Surjewala and Jairam Ramesh continued moving back and forth. The LoP remained seated.
Then, around 5.20 pm, came the crucial update: police sources said the process of registering the FIR had begun.
But Rahul Gandhi still did not budge.
Even as word spread that the FIR was being processed, the protest outside became more intense. Congress workers climbed the police station gates and shouted slogans.
At 6.20 pm, Rahul Gandhi finally received a copy of the FIR. The six-hour standoff had ended.
The FIR was registered under Sections 118 and 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), relating to causing hurt or grievous hurt using dangerous weapons or means and acts endangering life or personal safety. No individual was named as an accused in the FIR at this stage.
Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka and the other leaders then left with Sahil and his mother. But the police station did not immediately return to normal.
Congress workers stayed put outside. Then a young man emerged from the crowd carrying a paint canister. He wrote “Amit Shah Murdabad” on the police station wall and fled.
The police began clearing the area. Some workers had to be forcibly removed, while others left on their own.
By around 8 pm, the crowd had dispersed.
What had begun for me as a puzzling phone call about Rahul Gandhi being at a police station had, over the course of the day, turned into a prolonged confrontation over an FIR.
From the first blocked road near Sansad Marg to the final clearing of the police station premises, the entire episode unfolded in full public view.
And at the centre of it all was a simple demand repeated throughout the day: register the complaint, register the FIR, and investigate what happened to Sahil Lochab during the July 20 protest.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
