Chharanagar in Ahmedabad is notorious for its households selling illicit liquor in the city at the heart of a dry state – it is home to over 20,000 people. In fact, the police come here looking for clues in petty crimes like theft and burglary. Although many residents of Chharanagar have cleaned up their image and stepped into the fields of art and theatre, it doesn't stop the police from casting a suspicious eye on them.
At midnight on Thursday, 26 July, things got out of hand when the police allegedly sent in a force to flush out a few goons who had allegedly assaulted a Police Sub Inspector from Sardarnagar Police Station which falls in the outskirts of Chharanagar.
Residents of Chharanagar allege that police brutality was at its peak as they pulled sleeping residents out of their homes and assaulted them, and even destroyed private property. During the melee, they assaulted a photojournalist who is a resident of Chharanagar and broke his arm and equipment.
What the FIR Says
As per the FIR filed at Sardarnagar Police Station, on the night of 26 July, Police Sub Inspector DK Mori and a head constable were patrolling Chharanagar in his personal car. Out of suspicion, he stopped a person riding an Activa and asked for his license, around the same time another person on a bike approached Mori and asked him to identify himself.
Just as Mori did so, the second biker started abusing him, claiming that the cop was notorious for harrassing the locals of Chharanagar, which resulted in an altercation. The duo didn't let him check the vehicle. In the ensuing, tussle one of the men, Jigar Indrekar, snatched the gold chain worn by Mori and fled from the spot, yelling out loud that he will bring more people with him.
Just as Mori called for reinforcements, around 150-200 locals from Chharanagar engulfed the two cops, assaulting them with iron rods and pelted them with stones. They even damaged his car and left alcohol in it.
The cops then came with their force and combed the entire area in search of the two men.
The FIR states that residents of Chharanagar came out in hordes and assaulted the plainclothes policemen. However, residents allege that the police, in turn, barged into some of the houses in the Ahmedabad locality and thrashed civilians.
‘They Attacked Us Because We’re Chharas, We’re a Denotified Tribe’
Dakxin Chhara, who is a filmmaker, a theatre playwright and a resident of the area, told The Quint that the incident began when a group of drunk men got into an altercation, both verbal and physical, with police personnel.
According to Dakxin, their egos were hurt because a Chhara, who are a denotified, ex-criminal tribe, had the audacity to talk to them like that and even physically assault them. Dakxin claims that cops entered his home and even assaulted his wife and mother-in-law and he too was struck twice on the back with lathis.
Those who are at fault should be punished, but they (Ahmedabad Police) decided to punish the whole community. They gathered 300-400 policemen and raided houses in Chharanagar. They broke into houses, dragged the residents out and thrashed them.Daxin Chhara, Resident
My children were sleeping at night. The police raided my house, thrashed us, and took my children. There were 50 of them. They were drunk. I shouted and cried but they thrashed me too. I pleaded with them not to take my children. They didn’t listen to me. They said, ‘we are the government’.Navti Batunge, Resident of Chharanagar
According to Chhara, the policemen also destroyed property and valuables during the raid. While the resident claimed that 80 people were picked up, the Assistant Commissioner of Police JP Raol brings the number down to 29, according to a report in The Indian Express.
The daily quoted Raol as saying: “Our sub-inspector Mori, had gone there (Chharanagar) to conduct raids when at least 150-200 Chharas attacked and assaulted him and looted him. We then sent our vehicles and combed the entire area and rounded them up."
Journalist and Advocate Among Those Attacked
Pravin Indrekar, a senior photojournalist with DNA Ahmedabad, was allegedly thrashed when he went to the cops to enquire about the issue.
I was sleeping in my house when I hear a commotion outside. I saw police vehicles rushing through the narrow by-lanes and pulling people out and attacking them. I stepped out with my camera to take some pictures when cops came to me. I told them I’m from the media, but they didn’t pay heed and assaulted me nonetheless. They even broke my camera.Pravin Indrekar, Photojournalist, DNA Ahmedabad
Chhara alleges that besides Pravin, a senior advocate and his children were also thrashed when he went to enquire. "A few people went to the Civil hospital, but the police arrested them from the hospital itself,” he alleged.
The arrested men have decided to file a counter-complaint against the police personnel of Sardarnagar Police Station at the Metropolitian Court in Ahmedabad. According to sources in the police department, Pravin Indrekar will be released next week by Monday.
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