Who started the fire in Trilokpuri? It was pre-planned, say locals

New Delhi: Who started the trouble in East Delhi’s Trilokpuri? Firstpost tried to find the answer to the question. Highly-placed sources said the entire flare-up was not “accidental” but “pre-planned”. This has been corroborated by others as well.

“On August 17, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) organised a procession from Kalyanpuri to the communally sensitive Madina Chowk to celebrate its 50th foundation day. The participants of the procession were openly carrying firearms, swords, cleavers and hockey sticks. Inflammatory speeches were delivered on the occasion,” said a source, who also provided this reporter a few photographs of the gathering.

He said it was the day when the seed of hatred was planted in the area. “The government has acquired the residential land of Block 15, which has around 169 houses of Muslims, for the under construction metro line from Mayur Vihar-I to Karkarduma which passes through Trilokpuri. The residents have been allotted an alternative place opposite Valmiki Colony near Vasundhara road.”

“Some BJP leaders are convincing Valmikis (a Dalit grouping) not to allow Muslims to settle on the land allocated to them,” he said. According to another source, a senior party leader of the area, in a public gathering, once said if Muslims settle on the land, the whole area would become a “den of criminals”. “Hum ab Musalmanon ko yahan rahne nai denge (We will no longer allow Muslims to live here),” he quoted the leader.

“The entire campaign was politically motivated and aimed at bringing the Valmikis, who are generally considered to be Aam Aadmi Party’s loyal voters, to the saffron brigade’s fold,” he said adding that he was present in the meeting.

BJP’s Sunil Kumar Vaidya lost the Trilokpuri seat to AAP’s Raju Dhingan in the last assembly election. “The Mata ki Chowki was set up at a garbage dump site, which was recently cleaned during Swachch Bharat Abhiyan. This was never done earlier. Does not the selection of the place indicate at something?” asked the first source.

“Two Muslim youth were drinking liquor at a distance from the Mata ki Chowki on the other side of the road on Diwali night (October 23). A man called Kalia Deepu brutalised the duo. Soon, people from both communities gathered at the spot and following a heated argument, they started throwing stones on each other,” he said.

He said that a meeting of hundreds of people was conveyed by Vaidya at his residence in Block 21 on Friday. “Kalyanpuri ACP Rohit Meena got the information about the meeting. He rushed to the venue and requested the former BJP legislator not to go ahead as it might disturb the communal atmosphere in the locality but the later refused and entered with a heated argument with the police officer. Meanwhile, around 500-600 people started shouting slogan and left the meeting venue,” he said adding that the police have video recording of the meeting. “The participants of the meeting then dispersed into groups and entered in different blocks and started throwing bricks,” he said.

The top cop was also hit on his leg. Around 14 policemen suffered injuries while controlling the frenzy mob, he said. The situation was brought under control when additional police force, including Rapid Action Force (RAF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Delhi Police, was called in.

An uneasy calm prevailed throughout Friday night. At around 11 am on Saturday (October 25), a large number of people from outside barged into different blocks once again and exchanged bricks and bullets. The police had to struggle to contain the rioters. The police have recovered huge cache of weapons and bricks from the rooftop of several houses after they flew-over a drone fitted with a camera.

“We conducted raids after the drone flew over the entire area. Swords, knives, fire arms and glass bottles were found in large quantity during our raid in Block 8,” Special Commissioner (Law & Order) Deepak Mishra told Firstpost.