Mukherjee Nagar tempo driver was repeat offender, reveals FIR

As the situation in northwest Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar continued to remain tense after the video of a brawl between Sarabjeet Singh, a tempo driver, and policemen went viral, new details have come to the fore about Singh’s background. The police said that Singh had a criminal background and that he had been previously involved in brawls which led to an FIR being registered against him.

In an April 3 incident, Singh had beaten up a ‘Sevadar’ of Gurudwara Bangla Saheb. The Sevadar, Mangal Singh, had asked Sarabjit why he was staying at the Gurudwara with his son for so long. Triggered by the question, he beat up Mangal Singh, who then lodged an FIR. In the FIR, he mentioned his address somewhere in Burari.

Hundreds of people, mostly Sikhs, gathered outside the Mukherjee Nagar police station on Monday night demanding sacking of the all the policemen involved in the assault of a tempo driver. On Sunday, a group of policemen in Mukherjee Nagar were seen thrashing the tempo driver, identified as Sarabjeet Singh. The video of the incident went viral on social media.

In a video from late Sunday night, an ACP-rank officer could be seen being chased by protestors outside the Mukherjee Nagar police station. He had gone there to pacify the protesters.

A number of people gathered outside the police station in solidarity with Singh and demanded sacking of all the police officers who were involved in the alleged incident. The area where the incident occurred remained tense.

In a video from late Sunday night, an ACP-rank officer could be seen being chased by protestors outside the Mukherjee Nagar police station.  He had gone there to pacify the protesters.

Three policemen including two assistant sub inspectors have been suspended for their unprofessional conduct in handling the matter, police said.

Security has been beefed up in Mukherjee Nagar area, where the incident occurred, as the situation remained tensed.

Cross FIRs have been registered based on the statements of the police personnel and the tempo driver and the case was also transferred to the Crime Branch which will be probed “independently”, police said.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Northern Range) Manish Kumar Agarwal  is separately conducting a detailed inquiry into the matter.

In one of the purported videos, the tempo driver was seen chasing the policemen with a sword. In another video, they were seen thrashing the driver while overpowering him.

The police said the altercation between took place after the tempo driver’s vehicle collided with a police van.

(with PTI inputs)