Gangrape protests: Aam Aadmi Party under scrutiny over constable's death

New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party is under scrutiny over the death of the Delhi Police constable Subhash Tomar, who died after being injured in violent anti-rape protests at India Gate. The Delhi Police had arrested eight people for the attack on Tomar after identifying the people from the video footage.

One Aam Aadmi party worker, Chaman Kumar, was also arrested. The eight are now out on bail. AAP member Manish Sisodia had sought bail for all eight arrested. The police have now booked them for murder and riot.

Joint Commissioner of Police, Central Range, Taj Hasan, said, "We had arrested 8 people in connection with injuries caused to Constable Subhash Tomar, they were booked for rioting and attempt to murder. One of them is a person called Chaman Kumar who is a member of AAP. They were all given bail by the magistrate's court. AAP member Manish Sisodia had furnished bail bonds for all of them. We will now see what further legal action needs to be taken and may even move court for cancellation of bail."

Subhash Tomar, who was injured in Sunday's clashes, died at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi on Tuesday morning. Tomar was seriously injured after protests at India Gate turned violent and police lathicharged the agitators, some of whom also pelted stones at policemen.

His family blamed the public for his death. His son Deepak said, "No politician came to visit my father in the past three days. Its the public which is responsible. My father was brutally beaten while doing his duty. Can they bring back my father?" "It's the mob which is responsible for my brother's death," said his cousin Yudhveer Singh.

Subhash Tomar, posted at Karawal Nagar police station, was deployed on law and order duty, and was rushed to the hospital after being injured and was put on ventilator support. The 46-year-old constable belonged to Meerut.

The Delhi Police had on Monday filed four cases with regard to the violence during the protests. One of these cases was filed against former Army chief General VK Singh and yoga guru Ramdev. Both Singh and Ramdev have been booked by the Delhi Police on charges of rioting and causing damage to public property.

During the clashes at the protests at India gate on Sunday, over 140 people were injured. Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar had said that at least 65 Delhi Police officials were injured in the clashes with protesters.

Police used brute force to clear India Gate on Sunday evening after intermittent clashes with them. The crackdown came after some protesters started to indulge in violence, pulled down and burnt several barricades.

Many of the protesters claimed their demonstration was peaceful and accused the police of using unnecessary force. The gangrape survivor also continues be in a critical condition in Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital.

According to police, they had to use around 250 tear gas shells and repeated baton charges to evacuate protesters from the India Gate area. "Hooligans among the protestors resorted stone pelting. Around 12 DTC buses and equal number of PCR vans were damaged in the day long incident. One vehicle of Delhi Doordarshan was also damaged by the hooligans," said police.

(With additional information from IANS)