Headlines
Christian colony students file PIL against police, goons
New Delhi, Feb 3
A public interest litigation
(PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Court alleging harassment of
students by police and goons at a Christian colony near Delhi
University' north campus area.
A division bench of Chief Justice
G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw will hear the PIL filed by Utsav
Kumar, a former Delhi University student, seeking police protection for
the Christian colony's resident students from the goons of unknown
landlords, hired to harass them.
Claiming unawareness about the real owners of the houses or properties, the plea alleges harassment from hired musclemen.
"The
unknown landlords have engaged musclemen and boxers and outsiders to
intimidate, harass and physically harm the students and extract money
from them in cash without issuing any receipts."
"The houses or
properties are owned in benami (anonymous) names by politicians,
bureaucrats, policemen, property dealers and even one retired judge. The
musclemen and boxers often target the students, particularly those
belonging the north-east of the country and the Scheduled Castes," the
PIL has said.
It alleges that instead of protecting the students
from harassment, physical assault and extortion, police help boxers as
they act in complete connivance with them.
The students'
belongings are often thrown on the road by police who also disconnect
water and electricity supply as per the goons' whims and fancies. False
cases are lodged against the students to harass them. Police have failed
to act upon a complaint about threat to life, it says.
The plea
states that though the Christian colony has been declared as a monument
and protected under the Ancient Sites and Remains Act, all kinds of
construction and repair work are rampant in the area.