New Delhi: Tension prevailed in old Delhi’s Chawri Bazaar area on Monday after a fight over parking a scooter took a communal turn and a place of worship was vandalised in the locality, police said. Security has been beefed up in the Lal Kuan locality to prevent any flare-up, they said.
The trouble began late Sunday night when a 20-year-old local was parking his scooter outside a building. A resident of the building who runs an eatery stall there objected to it, witnesses said.
The latter's wife said that when her husband objected to parking the vehicle near the stall, the man left, but returned promptly with more men who were "probably drunk" and beat him up.
A 27-year-old software engineer narrated a different version. "When the 20-year-old was beaten up, he and his other family members went to police station and filed a case," he said.
A video surfaced online which purportedly showed a man allegedly being beaten up by some people, who were suspected to be drunk, over a parking issue.
Senior police officials said three separate cases have been registered in connection with the incident. A case has been registered based on the scooter owner's statement, the other case is based on the statement by the building resident and the third case was lodged against unknown persons for rioting and damaging public property.
"When the man parked his scooter, the eatery owner asked him to move it somewhere else and threatened to set it on fire. Thereafter, a quarrel broke out and the resident, along with some other person, took the scooter owner inside the building and beat him up," said a 25-year-old who lives in the locality.
Meanwhile, the locals called the Police Control Room and both parties involved in the brawl were taken to the police station. "When they were at the police station, some unknown people gathered outside a (place of worship in the area) and vandalised it. This led to tension in the area," Saqib claimed.
The place of worship is located on the Durga Mandir Street, just across the place where the incident occurred. A priest said, "A mob came last night around midnight. They vandalised the place of worship and left the place."
On Monday, signs of vandalism were seen — the shutter of the structure was damaged . During the day, the two sides raised slogans that added to the tensions. Police have ramped up security to ensure law and order. Senior police officials and paramilitary personnel were at the spot.
"After some altercation & scuffle over a parking issue in Hauz Qazi, tension arose b/w two groups of people from different communities. We have taken legal action & all efforts are being made to pacify feelings & bring about amity. People are requested to help in restoring normalcy (sic)," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central), Mandeep Singh Randhawa, tweeted.
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