Chandigarh: A group of over 50 people resorted to violence and arson to ‘topple the government’ during the 2016 Jat agitation, chargesheet filed by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has revealed.
The chargesheet filed in the Panchkula CBI court names 51 people, who indulged in violence at the residential and official premises of Haryana finance minister Captain Abhimanyu in Rohtak.
According to one of the audio clips accessed by News18, accused Manoj Duhan and lawyer Pipwadi can be heard discussing that the issue of reservation is secondary as their priority is to topple the government.
“Sarkar ko palatna hai, aur koi hamara mudda nahi hai. Aarakshan ko baad me dekh lenge (We have to topple the government, we have no other agenda. Reservation will be taken care of later),” Duhan said during the telephonic conversation on February 19, 2016. The audio clip is a part of the CBI chargesheet.
Another conversation on the same day reveals the mob’s plan to vandalise the house of Haryana finance minister.
“Abhimanyu ke ghar ke bheetar tehas nehas kar diya, gadiyan me aag laga di hai. Abhimanyu ke ghar me balak apne badh gye hain. (Abhimanyu’s house has been vandalised, vehicles have been set on fire. Our lads have entered his home),” of the accused Sandeep Kalkal told one Ajay over phone.
The chargesheet claims that the attack on Abhimanyu’s house was pre-planned.
“The rioters had forcibly snatched the arms of security personnel deployed at house of Captain Abhimanyu and also fired gunshots and had voluntarily obstructed the security personnel and public servants in discharge of their duties. “The accused persons set the house on fire with the criminal intention to set on fire the family members of Captain Abhimanyu alive,” said the CBI dossier.
On the other hand, defense lawyer Jitendera Hooda questioned the chargesheet and stated that the audio clips reveal only half the truth.
“The CBI has disclosed selective audio clips. There is an audio clip which shows Sandeep Kalkal trying to save the people. We have submitted that clip to the court in which Sandeep can be heard talking to the then Deputy Commissioner DK Bohra and pleading for help as the mob had gone out of control,” Hooda said.
The issue has led to a war of words between the political parties in the state with Abhimanyu blaming the Congress for the violence.
“The persons made accused by the CBI in the case appear to have links with Bhupinder Singh Hooda. People associated with Bhupinder Singh Hooda were behind the violence and they wanted to destabilize the government. Jats had no hand in the violence. It is only the Congress leaders who were involved,” he alleged.
Countering the finance minister, Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda said, “The allegations are baseless. Where is the Prakash Singh Committee report? Why has it been kept under covers? It is because it showcases the Manohal Lal government’s failure to deal with the situation. The BJP had used this episode for political gains.”
INLD leader RS Chaudhary said that the Congress was in cahoots with BJP. “The CBI inquiry will keep going on and in the meantime the government will change. So nothing will actually happen”, he said.
The Haryana government has already granted its sanction to prosecute 40 of the accused under sedition charges. These persons were initially booked by the CBI and it was waiting for the government’s nod even as it has filed the charge sheet in the court.
The CBI has indicted 51 persons its charge sheet and slapped sections of rioting, sedition, and attempt to murder on them. They have been booked under Sections 120-B, 124-A, 148, 149, 186, 188, 307, 353, 395, 427, 436 and 450 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 25 of the Arms Act. The central agency had earlier named 40 persons but added 11 more names to the charges sheet. The fresh names added to the chargesheet includes Gaurav Hooda who is the son of Congress leader Krishan Murti Hooda. However, Krishan Murti Hooda has termed the allegations against his son as false terming the move as an act of political vendetta.
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