india

Updated: Nov 03, 2019 16:12 IST

Delhi police registered four separate first information reports (FIRs) on Sunday in connection with Saturday’s violent clash between policemen and lawyers over a parking dispute at the Tis Hazari Courts that left about 50 people injured and around a dozen vehicles damaged.

In two of the four FIRs, attempt to murder and other serious sections of Indian Penal Code have been added against the police as well as the lawyers. A special investigation unit (SIT) of the crime branch has been formed to probe the cases.

Delhi Police spokesperson Anil Mittal said that one FIR has been registered on the complaint of the district judge and it pertains to violent clash and damaging of pubic properties in the court premises.

Mittal said that two cases were registered on separate complaints of two lawyers, including a woman, against the police. The woman in her complaint has alleged that she was molested and physically harassed by some policemen.

“The fourth FIR has been registered on the complaint of a constable. The sections of defacement to public property act have also been included in the FIR filed on the constable’s complaint. The SIT is probing all the four cases,” said Mittal.

Police have not disclosed the names of the male lawyer or the constable on whose complaints the cross FIRs have been registered.

On Sunday, some new video clips pertaining to the violent clash surfaced on social media. These are in addition to over half a dozen videos shot on mobile phones that were being circulated on different platforms of social media.

In one of the latest videos, a group of at least 30 lawyers is seen assaulting two-three policemen after entering the court’s lock-up area. One of the policemen is seen in the video being assaulted with leather belt and an object, which is either a wooden stick or an iron rod. In another video, at least 10 police officers are seen assaulting a lawyer by separating him from the other group of lawyers.

Police said they will examine all videos and footage of CCTV cameras to ascertain the exact reason that led to the violent clash.

Both parties claimed the trigger was a dispute over a lawyer parking his car near the court’s lock-up area. The lawyer was asked not to park there because it would obstruct the movement of jail vans, the police said. This led to a heated argument that turned into a scuffle and soon erupted into violence.

Also, on Sunday senior police officers of the crime branch visited the Tis Hazari spot and inspected the lock-up area near which the violence erupted. Delhi police are conducting an inquiry headed by an officer of the rank of special commissioner.