Mob goes on a rampage, tries to take over disputed site

A country with the legacy of Babri demolition can be expected to lose its cool occasionally on matters of the religious kind.


A religious plot? Angry people destroy a car after a clash over a
controversial piece land where they want to establish a temple, at
Gokulpuri in east Delhi on Sunday. PIC/Mid-Day

A mob of around hundred people went on a rampage at Gokulpuri area in northeast Delhi - vandalising several vehicles, setting some of them on fire and demolishing the boundary wall surrounding a piece of land.

Police resorted to lathi charge to bring the situation under control and detained a dozen people in connection with the case. A senior police officer said that the mob wanted to build a religious structure there.

"The huge tract of land is hundred years old and is allotted to a religious trust namely the Mahavir Trust. Its first owner had bequeathed it in the name of a person called Ram Swaroop. Now two sons of Ram Swaroop are the caretakers of this land who had erected a boundary wall around the plot.

Local residents claimed they (Ram Swaroop's sons) have sold the plot to some builders of the area who want to use it for commercial purposes.
Locals say since the plot has been allotted to a religious trust, a temple should be built on the land. On Sunday a mob went on a rampage," said a senior police officer. The officer said that the matter is pending in court for several years.

The incident has been reported from Ganga Vihar of Gokulpuri area.
According to sources, Rashtravadi Shiv Sena chief Jai Bhagvan Goel was also supporting the mob in bringing down the boundary wall.

The police said that the owner of the plot, who belongs to the same religion, had recently won a legal battle to construct a boundary wall around the 3,500-sq yard plot.

"People had been organising Ramlila there and so they didn't want the plot to be handed over to a builder. However, the land owner had built a boundary wall after procuring a court order. This led to the incident on August 8.u00a0

On Sunday morning around hundred people gathered at the spot and began pelting the area with stones.u00a0 Two chairs kept at the plot were set on fire. Besides this the angry mob set a car belonging to one of the caretakers on fire.u00a0

A police officer said that a case of rioting and trespass has been lodged in this regard.