DEHRADUN: A confrontation at Dehradun railway station between two groups escalated into a communal clash late Thursday night, leading to over 100 individuals being booked by police.
The situation arose when an alleged interfaith couple from Uttar Pradesh, including a 16-year-old girl, were found arguing at the station, drawing attention from authorities.
According to senior superintendent of police (SSP) Ajai Singh, the girl, from a minority community, had come from Badaun to meet the man currently residing in Dehradun.The Railway Protection Force (RPF) intervened when they saw the couple arguing and took them to the RPF police station for safety. The girl’s family had filed a missing person complaint the day before in Badaun, unaware she had traveled to Dehradun.
Upon receiving news of the situation, the UP police informed the girl’s family, who immediately left for Dehradun. In the meantime, rumors of a communal incident began to circulate, leading to the formation of two groups at the railway station, one led by Vikas Verma and the other by Asif Qureshi, ‘president of the Dehradun city unit of Azad Samaj Party.’
Both groups engaged in heated arguments, and the situation quickly escalated as they began pelting stones at each other. Passengers and bystanders at the station scrambled for safety as miscreants damaged vehicles, including eight two-wheelers and a police vehicle.
Police had to use force to disperse the crowd, bringing the situation under control by deploying additional officers.
SSP Singh, said that a case was registered against 14 identified accused, including Vikas Verma and Asif Qureshi and around 100 unidentified with 50 each from both the sides, under sections 191(2) (rioting), 221(obstructing a public servant from discharging his duties), 223 (disobedience of order passed by public servant) and 324(4) (damaging property) of the BNS and Section 7 of the criminal law (amendment) Act.
“The other named accused were identified as Rohit Maurya, Siddhant Badoni, Aman Swedia, Anil, Sunny, Rajesh, Shoaib, Nawab Qureshi, Itad Khan, Aqib, Taufiq Khan and Arsh,” Singh added.
Authorities are reviewing CCTV footage to identify additional accused.
