Bareilly: 10 FIRs, 80 Arrests, 38 Shops Sealed; Family Says, 'My Son's Innocent'

"My son has done nothing. Around 5 PM, he went out after delivering flour at home but the police arrested him."

Bareilly: 10 FIRs, 80 Arrests, 38 Shops Sealed; Family Says, 'My Son Is Innocent'

(Photo: The Quint)

“Last Friday, my son was at home. Around 8 PM, he went out to buy milk when the police picked him up. It has been over 4 days now. The police aren’t even allowing us to meet him. My son is innocent.”

A mother whose voice choked with tears in her eyes, told The Quint. Then, wiping those tears, she said, “I am also unwell. I have a breathing ailment, but for the last four days I have been coming here (to the police station) at 6 in the morning and returning home only at midnight. I spend the whole day waiting, hoping someone will give me some news about my son.”

Outside the City Kotwali police station in Bareilly, several such families were present who alleged that the police had picked up their relatives and were not allowing them to meet them. They said their family members who have been picked up had no role in the recent communal escalations in Bareilly.

SSP Anurag Arya stated that in connection with the violence in Bareilly, 10 FIRs had been filed by 30 September. Meanwhile, 80 arrests have been made. Additionally, internet services have been shut down since 3 pm on 2 October and will be restored post 3 pm on Saturday, 4 October.

Along with heavy deployment of police forces, drones were also put in place ahead of Friday prayers on 3 October.

Recently, Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad and Congress MP Imran Masood were put under house arrest in Saharanpur to allegedly prevent them from visiting violence-hit Bareilly.

'Every Day Police Say They Will Release Him, but They Never Do'

Another local, Sarfaraz alleged that the police also picked up his 17-year-old son. He has been kept at the police station for the past 4–5 days, but the police are not allowing him to meet him.

He said, “If my son had done something wrong and the police had caught him, I could have understood that the child made a mistake. But my son has done nothing. Around 5 PM, he went out after delivering flour at home, and that’s when the police picked him up. Every day the police say they will release him today or tomorrow, but they haven’t released him. At the time of the incident, my son was at home.”

Ashu, a resident of Bareilly, said, “He is my uncle’s son. He is 19 years old and works as a welder. The police picked him up from the market. It has been 4–5 days now, and the police are not allowing us to meet him. If they want to send him to jail, then send him, we will try to get bail. But the police are neither sending him to jail nor giving us any information.”

Bareilly DM Avinash Singh said that the administration is taking action only against those people who created disturbances on the day of violence. Those who tried to disrupt the atmosphere, and whose track record has been very poor for a long time.

38 Shops Sealed With Red Cross Marks

After the Bareilly incident, the police sealed around 38 shops near the Clock Tower at Novelty Chowk.

According to local journalist Sanjay Sharma, there are a total of 54 shops in the area, mainly belonging to members of the minority community. Their main business is readymade clothes and footwear. The municipal corporation team declared these shops as illegal encroachments and vacated them.

'Order To Vacate Shops in 3 Hours Without Notice'

Local shopkeepers alleged that the municipal corporation ordered them to vacate within just three hours without issuing any prior notice.

"The shops are built on Waqf Board land. A case regarding ownership of the land is already ongoing with the municipal corporation, but we have a stay order from the court," a local shopkeeper said.

Bareilly Municipal Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar Maurya said that many multi-storied shops had been built by encroaching on the drain, regarding which notices had been issued earlier.

Since the shop owners did not vacate, the municipal corporation team took action. Among these shops, there is also an IMC office. It is not Waqf property because this matter had come before the municipal corporation earlier as well, and it was resolved. These are illegal properties built on the drain and along the roadside.

Former IPS officer Amitabh Thakur said that a delegation of the Azad Adhikar Sena visited Bareilly and gathered important information regarding the incident there, on the basis of which a letter has been written to the UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath demanding appropriate action. He wrote:

• Everyone the delegation spoke to at the site appeared fearful and intimidated. From their conversations, it was clear that the police administration had instilled a deep sense of fear in them, because of which they were not openly speaking the full truth.

• At the site, it was evident that the police force deployed was many times greater than what was actually required, and its primary purpose seemed to be to keep the local people intimidated.

• Since the time of the incident, continuous internet shutdown in Bareilly has caused immense difficulties for the public, severely affecting not only everyday life but also trade across the city.

• Due to the suspension of internet services, many people have been unable to bring forth facts related to the incident, preventing the full truth from coming out.

• Several traders near the incident site stated that they were instructed by the local police administration to close their shops even before the incident occurred, which certainly raises serious doubts about the administration’s intentions.

(Inputs from Sanjay Sharma)