Shahpur police lobbed 10 teargas shells to disperse the 500-strong mob; a complaint of rioting has been registered against the crowd
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| Parmar removed the clothesline in the bathroom and tied it to a grill near the barracks in a bid to strangle himself, but was saved |
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| Harshit, 8, with his father Manish Rajput |
Shahpur police had to face the ire of locals who wanted ‘custody’ of a man who had allegedly attempted to kidnap an 8-year-old boy on Wednesday. Not allowed to ‘teach the abductor a lesson’, the mob pelted stones at the police station. The cops had to lob 10 teargas shells to disperse the 500-strong mob. Police identified the accused as Balwant Thakore, a 50-year-old resident of Jamalpur.
The attempted kidnapping occurred around 11 am at Shahpur Chakla. Harshit Rajput, a resident of Chunara no Khancho in Shahpur Chakla, said, “My father, who manages a cholafali larri near Shahpur Darwaza, asked me to drop off a DVD before I went to my school. I study in class 4 of Gyaniyagna school near Shahpur Darwaza. So, I got ready and left home around 11 am. I was walking to the darwaza when a man grabbed my hand and ordered me to leave with him. I began screaming and tried to free my hand. This drew the attention of a passer-by. Seeing help arrive, the man let go off me and I ran to my dad to tell him what happened.”
His father Manish added, “I ran to the spot but the man had moved towards Nasiri Hotel. By the time I reached there, I saw a group of locals had caught hold of Thakore and were thrashing him. We took him to the police station.”
On hearing about the incident, residents in the area converged at the police station and began pelting stones at the cops. The police arrested two men and this brought the violence to a halt.
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But soon, many more arrived at the station demanding the release of the two men. Paying heed to the rumour that the cops might let the ‘kidnapper’ walk, they also demanded that the cops let the kidnapper go so they could ‘teach him a lesson’. Among the crowd were parents whose children had gone missing from the area.
A source said, “A group of women barged into the station, demanding custody of the man. A cop retorted, ‘Why do you give birth to kids and leave them on the road? You should take better care of them.’ This enraged the mob which resorted to stone-pelting again.”
The police lobbed 10 teargas shells. Seven people, including two women, were injured in the fight. Cops lodged a complaint of rioting against the mob.
DCP (Zone-II) Harikrishna Patel said, “Some people wanted us to hand over the kidnapper to them. We cannot let anyone take the law into their hands. The people tried to stop us from doing our duty by pelting us with stones. The situation is now under control. There were no casualties.”
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