Night of shame continues……

The village was 2 kilometres away from the nearest road, and the approach to it was not motorable. The police party had to cover the distance on foot. The hut in which Ram Singh and Mukesh’s parents lived was not in the main village but in the middle of an agricultural field, a little distance away. What stood between the police team and the hut was a river with neither a bridge across it nor any ferry service. The police team realized that they would have to swim across it. One member of the team, a consummate swimmer, was sent in advance to check how deep the river was. Luckily, it was crossable, but there was one difficulty—the AK rifles and pistols the policemen were carrying would have to be protected from being submerged in water. Undeterred, the policemen stepped into the icy waters of the river with their weapons raised above their heads. A few of them were not tall enough to keep their heads above water and had to walk on their toes.

As they approached the hut, dawn was breaking. Fortunately, no movement was seen outside the hut. The residents seemed to be asleep inside. The team encircled the hut and raided it. Mukesh, who had been hiding out with his parents, was caught unawares. The police team, with Mukesh in custody, had to cross the river again and hurry to their vehicles. Luckily, since Mukesh’s hut was at some distance from the main village, the other villagers did not learn of the arrest. The police party, without wasting any time, drove back to Delhi.

By the morning of 18 December, news of the unfortunate incident had reached the media and quite expectedly, spread like wildfire. Crowds began to collect at the Vasant Vihar police station, comprising mostly members of the media, representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), students of Jawaharlal Nehru University and some local people. They were raising slogans against the police and preventing policemen from entering and leaving the station.

To be continued……