‘Done by BJP goons’: Abhijeet Dipke responds after injured Delhi cops’ kin seek justice | Delhi News
NEW DELHI: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Friday alleged that the violence during the party’s July 20 march to Parliament was part of a conspiracy to target students, while expressing sympathy for Delhi Police personnel injured during the protest.Speaking to news agency ANI in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra, Dipke said, “This was done by BJP goons. I have been saying since day one that the BJP will send its goons to create disruptions. They have done exactly that.”Dipke also said he felt sorry for the police personnel who were targeted during the violence, but questioned the treatment of students who were allegedly beaten by police.“I feel sorry that the police officers were targeted by the same people who were carrying out these actions. We have sympathy for the police officers who were targeted in such a manner. At the same time, the students who were brutally beaten by police officers, what about their families?” he said.His remarks came on a day when families of four Delhi Police personnel injured during the CJP-led ‘Sansad Chalo’ march urged that the trauma suffered by police officers and their families also be discussed in Parliament, saying the public discourse had so far focused largely on allegations of police excesses.Addressing a press conference at the Constitution Club of India, the wife of an ACP, the wife of an ASI and the children of two injured police officers recounted the hours they spent waiting for hospital updates, seeing their injured family members return home and watching social media narratives that they felt overlooked the injuries suffered by police personnel.The families said they wanted to present what they described as “their side” of the violence that broke out during the march.Recalling the night her husband returned home injured, Upneet Kaur, the wife of an ACP, described the experience as “traumatic” for her and their two-year-old daughter.She claimed that police repeatedly appealed to the crowd to remain peaceful before bottles, stones, slippers and other objects were hurled at them.“Behind every uniform is not only a police officer; there is also a wife, children, parents and an entire family. We want people to understand that,” she said.A slideshow displayed photographs of bleeding police personnel alongside figures that, the families claimed, reflected the scale of the violence.The presentation claimed that more than 250 police personnel were injured in the violence, while over 110 barricades, 300 body protectors, 350 helmets, 20 loudhailers, 10 hand-held metal detectors and one X-ray baggage scanner were damaged. It also claimed that more than 25 government vehicles and private property were vandalised.Seema, whose husband joined Delhi Police as a constable 33 years ago and now serves as an ASI, said that around 11am on July 20, her husband told her over the phone that the crowd was large and protesters were preparing to march towards Parliament.Hours later, she received another call informing her that her husband was being treated at the LNJP Hospital.“When I spoke to him, he told me that some anti-social elements in the crowd attacked policemen with stones, flower pots, slippers and shoes. After that, his phone battery died, and I was terrified,” Seema said.Her husband returned home around 11pm with his protective helmet broken, she said.“Had another stone struck his head after the helmet broke, he might not have survived. But for days, only one narrative has been discussed – that police used brutality against students. That is only one side. We want what happened to police personnel and their families also to be discussed in Parliament,” she said.The families maintained that they were not blaming the students but alleged that anti-social elements had infiltrated the gathering and triggered the violence.Dipke, meanwhile, said habitual offenders should be dealt with according to law, but alleged that such people were being used to target students.“Habitual offenders must be dealt with according to the law. They are using those habitual offenders to target students. People in Bihar did not do anything in Delhi. People in Mumbai did not do anything in Delhi…There is a conspiracy to target students, and this is being done to threaten them that they should not dare to question the government or come out in protest again,” he said.Kunjal, a Delhi University student whose father, a sub-inspector, was injured in the clashes, said he had served for 15 years as a marine commando in the Indian Navy before joining the police.“My father was deployed on the front line at the barricades. He told us how anti-social elements tried to create chaos,” Kunjal said.She alleged that on July 25, her father was pulled by a mob near the stage at the Jantar Mantar, was “almost lynched” and remained unconscious at the RML Hospital for nearly four hours.“When my father’s colleagues brought him home around 10 pm, his uniform was soaked in blood. It was painful to see him in that condition,” she said.Kunjal also said she was distressed by the reaction on social media.“When I opened social media, my father had already been declared a criminal. Later, I learnt that those accused of attacking police personnel had approached the Supreme Court. I felt I also had to seek justice for my father. We too have equal rights as citizens, and we hope justice will be done,” she said.Another student, Lakshya Singh, the son of an injured ACP, said he was shocked when he first saw his father after he sustained a head injury during the violence.“His head had been shaved, and there were stitches. I was frightened,” he said, adding that his father later told the family that while many had gathered for the protest, some people wanted to create chaos.He said it was “frustrating” to see only one version of the events dominate public discussion.“Whenever I go online, I see videos portraying only the police as criminals. There is no discussion, even in Parliament, about the police personnel who were injured. We only want our side to be heard,” he said.(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
