Delhi Police have arrested four members of the Right-wing Hindu Raksha Dal in connection with a viral video purporting to show them assaulting students and pushing and attacking a woman in the presence of cops in central Delhi during the Cockroach Janta Party’s protest on Saturday.
The video triggered outrage and drew widespread condemnation on social media, with many slamming the police for remaining mute spectators and alleging that the assaulters had the cops’ support. Following the intense backlash, Delhi Police on Sunday said it had taken suo motu cognisance of the footage and tracked down and arrested the four accused.
Hindu Raksha Dal president Pinky Chaudhary claimed that the accused were members of his organisation “working for Sanatan Dharma” and vowed to protect his “warriors”.
The accused were identified as Raman Saini, 50, a resident of Pahari Dheeraj in Delhi; Vivekanand alias Vivek, 32, from Nangloi in Delhi; Kapil Kumar, 27, who lives in Ghaziabad; and Ravinder Singh alias Govind Hindu, 35, from Indirapuram in Ghaziabad.
The video showed four men assaulting a peaceful male protester on Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg. When a young woman rushed to his rescue, the accused pushed her and threw her to the ground and began beating her. Two cops visible in the frame failed to intervene immediately.
One of the cops appeared to be signalling to the attackers to stop the recording of the violence, rather than intervening to thwart the assault. Without restraining the accused with the iron hand they so freely wielded on peaceful protesters elsewhere, the cops were seen holding the accused by their shoulders and slowly walking them away from the scene.
In a social media post, Pinky said the accused were his workers and described them as his “warriors”.
“These are my workers from the Hindu Raksha Dal — an organisation that delivers on its promises. The Hindu Raksha Dal possesses the power to set the minds of any ‘cockroaches’ straight, and it will continue to do so relentlessly,” Pinky said in a post on X.
“I had said never mess with the Hindu Raksha Dal. The Hindu Raksha Dal won’t back down. These are my warriors who are working for Sanatan Dharma with full strength,” he said while warning that it would retaliate against those who targeted Sanatan Dharma.
“We have nothing to do with politics, but if someone targets Sanatan, we will target them and send them right where they belong,” he added.
On Saturday, Pinky had posted several videos showing members and supporters of his outfit confronting the protesters gathered in several parts of central Delhi. He had also issued threats that he would be present at Jantar Mantar ahead of the CJP protest, but the police had detained him at his Ghaziabad home.
The CJP condemned the assault, accusing the BJP and the RSS of attacking a young woman in the presence of the police.
“Deeply disturbing! BJP-RSS goons beating a young girl in the presence of Delhi Police, with an officer seemingly guiding them to stop the recording. Why is Delhi Police helping goons attack peaceful protesters instead of protecting them? Who gave them this free hand?” the CJP said.
The Delhi Police have registered 20 FIRs in connection with Saturday’s protests, mostly dealing with assault on cops and onstruction of public servants.