A home in the Ramganj area of Jaipur was enveloped in sadness and mourned two deaths on Friday. While in the evening the house had a gathering of 350 people to offer prayers for an elderly relative who died two weeks back, the incident at late night brought shock and grief when a young boy in the family became victim of a ruckus in the area.
A 22- year old youth Adil Raees was buying paan for the gathering when the riots hit the Ramganj area in the Walled City of Jaipur on Friday evening. According to the locals, a trivial issue turned into an ugly row. The clashes between the locals and the police erupted after an alleged assault on a woman by a cop during an eviction of illegal street vendors. It is during this clash the rampage that the deceased Adil Raees became a victim.
Speaking about the death of the deceased, his cousin Mohammed Zahir said, " Adil's bhua had expired two weeks back. On Friday, our house was already mourning the death of our aunt. We had a family condolence meeting and there were more than 350 people at Adil's house as a feast was organised to mark the rituals. Adil had gone to fetch paan for his guests and that was when he became a victim of the ruckus between the police and the locals."
Zahir further stated that they had no information about the eruption of violence in the area and it was almost half-an-hour post Adil's death that they came to know the news. “We were shocked to learn that a bullet hit Adil." said Zahir.
Adil's family members, along with several people from the Muslim community, reached the police station on Saturday asking for complete investigation and compensation. They refused to take the dead body until the police station in charge was suspended and a magisterial enquiry instituted in to the death. They also demanded compensation. A B.Com graduate and an employee at a finance company, Adil is survived by his mother, four sisters, and three brothers.
Speaking about the same, Jaipur Police Commissioner Sanjay Agarwal, said, “Owing to a small rift between a police constable and a motorcycle-borne couple, clashes between the locals and the police took place late last night. The sensitive area of Ramgunj turned violent. Locals pelted stones and also set some
vehicles ablaze. Curfew is in force in Ramganj, Subhash Chowk, Manak Chowk and Galta Gate police station areas,” he informed.
The curfew and violence disrupted life in the city on the weekend. The Delhi-Agra route through Jaipur was diverted and a large number of police personnel were deployed in the violence-hit area. The police were keeping a close watch through drones in the Walled City.
According to the police, the exact cause of death will be ascertained only after the arrival of the post-mortem report and a detailed inquiry into the matter. The incident happened on Friday night when an agitated mob gathered outside Ramganj police station following an incident of alleged assault of a couple by a police constable in the area, a senior police official said. The mob went on a rampage and torched a power house and set ablaze five vehicles, including an ambulance and a police jeep, prompting police to fire tear gas shells, rubber bullets and open fire in air to disperse the mob and bring the situation under control.