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11 policemen, magistrate injured in Firozabad

LUCKNOW: Eleven policemen and the City Magistrate were injured as the Gujjar agitation turned violent in Firozabad district of Uttar Pradesh on Friday.

Police arrested 24 persons, including two former MLAs, Hari Om Yadav and Azim Bhai, for allegedly instigating violence and causing damage to public property.

One person was reported to have been killed in police firing. Additional Director-General (Law and Order) Brij Lal, however, denied reports of the casualty and police firing on the demonstrators. He said one Ram Babu of the neighbouring Agra district, suffered a bullet wound in his arm and was admitted to the district hospital. The ADG said he was not injured in police firing. Some miscreants opened fire on the police.

Mr. Lal said a mob of about 1,500 people laid siege to the railway track in Asafabad in the morning by placing a tractor-trolley and tried to uproot the rail line. When the police tried to talk to the agitators, the mob pelted stones injuring 11 policemen and the City Magistrate of Firozabad. Mr. Lal said the mob torched a police jeep and two motorcycles and made an attempt to damage the railway cabin.

Police used force to quell the mob. An additional company of the Provincial Armed Constabulary has been deployed in Firozabad district.

In Saharanpur district, over 100 people led by president of the Uttar Pradesh unit of Gujjar Mahasabha (youth wing), Virendra Singh, blocked the Delhi-Dehra Dun Shatabdi Express at the outer signal of the Nagal railway station on Friday. The rail roko continued for about an hour.

In the Rampur town area of Saharanpur district, about 200 demonstrators, led by the local Rashtriya Lok Dal leader, Chaudhary Rudrasen, sat on the rail line and stopped the 332 dn Saharanpur-Delhi passenger train for about two hours.

Members of the All-India Gujjar Mahasabha blocked the Saharanpur-Delhi highway and held a demonstration in support of their demands.

Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Mahendra Singh Tikait was stopped at Udyognagar in Bharatpur district of neighbouring Rajasthan.

Mr. Tikait along with his supporters was going to Bayana in Bharatpur to extend support to the Gujjar agitation.

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