Angry residents of Vikaspuri, Delhi where a 40-year-old doctor was lynched to death on the night of Holi, by miscreants from the nearby slum, has accused the political establishment of playing vote bank politics while residents suffer in the area.
A member of the local Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) from New Krishna Park in Vikaspuri, said, “This was not the first incident that happened here. The slums here are a breeding ground for anti-social elements. Recently two guards of this area were also killed by these nefarious elements. During late nights they are drunk and easily pick up fights with random persons, which in turn leads to incidents like this. The police are also mostly helpless as these slums are the vote banks of the politicians and they are unable to act because of political pressure.” The RWA has also written to all the local authorities to relocate them, but they say their requests went unanswered.
A local police source at the Vikaspuri police station said, “At times when we pick them up for crimes they have done, we get calls from the local politicians to release them, saying they are their party members.”
A local fruit vendor, who sits daily near the spot of the incident also spoke about the “political nexus” between the people of these slums and the political leaders and the police. “These elements are the ground workers for big political parties, so why would the parties want to hurt them? They work under their full support,” he said.
Another resident of the area has also complained about the increase in the incidents of chain snatching, pick pocketing at nights, and fights in the area. “Eve teasing is a common thing here. These slum dwellers should immediately be resettled by the authorities and if the political parties think they are a vote bank, they should be reminded that we are voters too,” an angry resident of the area said.
The Naya Daur Party, which has several doctors among its top leadership, has written a letter to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi seeking the demolition of the slums in the area and resettling the inhabitants.
Dr Sanjeev Chibber, president of the Naya Duar Party said, “We are committed to the logical treatment and conclusion of the slum problem in Delhi, which is creating a law and order problem. These slums are hot beds of crime and are allowed to exist in the present form because of their vote which most political parties cash on during elections.”
The party has given a deadline of 72 hours to the MCD to take necessary action against this menace. Dr Chibber says that if the MCD does not respond within the stipulated time, the party will call for a demonstration at Jantar Mantar and dharnas outside each slum in Delhi.
Forty-year-old Dr Pankaj Narang was beaten to death in the wee hours of 25 March, following an argument with two men on a motorcycle. The two men later returned with ten people from the nearby slum who beat Dr Narang to death. The Police has arrested nine of the ten accused while one is absconding. Amongst the nine arrested, four are juveniles and all the accused have been charged with murder and rioting amongst other serious charges.
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