While Noida police was busy celebrating Cyber Safety Week, industries in Phase-II were being torched on Wednesday. The strike called by the trade unions took an ugly turn on Wednesday, when hooligans set office properties and vehicles on fire.
The police received first call of vandalism at 9.30 am but came into action only after 11.30 am, when Additional Director General (ADG) of Police O P Singh completed inauguration of Cyber Safety Week at Expo Center, Sector 62 in Noida.
All senior police officers of Noida, including performing officers of police stations, were deployed in the arrangement for inauguration and no preparation was made to handle the first day of the two-day Bharat Bandh called by trade unions.
‘I had never seen such vandalism, rioting, arson and loot in my life. It was worse than at Chandni Chowk during the 1984 roits. We helplessly made several calls but to no avail,’ said Kamal Kumar, Joint Secretary of Noida Entrepreneurs Association (NEA).
According to the estimates of NEA, property worth Rs 600 crore was damaged in Phase-II only. ‘Over half a dozen factories in industrial area of Phase-II were damaged and a complex was completed gutted,’ said Kumar. He added there were only 15 police personnel to control mob in Phase-II, who took shelter in police station to save their lives.
According to sources, the last minute decision of Noida police chief to send inspector of Phase-II police station to lines without providing any replacement made the police station headless, leading to lawlessness in the area.
‘The hooligans had free run as police was completely absent from action for over two hours,’ said Vipin Mallan, president of NEA. According to eye witnesses, police came into action in the afternoon and took over three hours to control the situation. Additional police and PAC were summoned from neighbouring districts like Ghaziabad, Buland Shahar and Meerut. A flag march was also performed in the evening to send a strong message to hooligans.
According to NEA, over 100 companies were ransacked and their offices were vandalised.
The first report of violence came from Hosiery Complex at 9.30 am, as a group of workers came to the premises. They asked to close the company and around 100 workers went on rampage. Later on, the mob also blocked the roads.
The angry mob not only broke window panes but also looted laptops, desktops and other goods from the companies. Around 90 cars were broken inside Motherson Company only, while eight were burnt.
Protest turned into a riot when mob in groups started attacking companies in other industrial sectors like 57, 63, 62, 64, 66, 81, 82 and 84. A fire brigade and 50 private vehicles were torched.
‘Yes, police initially failed to judge the magnitude of violence but now the situation is under control. These crowds were without leaders,’ said O P Singh, ADG (NCR). ‘We are taking CCTV footage of the companies to identify the protesters,’ added Singh.
The police have detained over 50 people. According to police, over half-a-dozen police personnel were also injured, among whom one constable and three persons are serious.
They are admitted in Prakahs and Prayag hospitals in Noida.
DIG, Meerut, Satya Narayan, along with SSP Ghaziabad Prashant Kumar came to manage the situation. District Magistrate of Noida, MKS Sunderam, has ordered a magisterial probe.
Later in the evening, paramilitary forces were deployed in the area and the Uttar Pradesh government formed a two-member committee to probe the incident.
The police received first call of vandalism at 9.30 am but came into action only after 11.30 am, when Additional Director General (ADG) of Police O P Singh completed inauguration of Cyber Safety Week at Expo Center, Sector 62 in Noida.
All senior police officers of Noida, including performing officers of police stations, were deployed in the arrangement for inauguration and no preparation was made to handle the first day of the two-day Bharat Bandh called by trade unions.
‘I had never seen such vandalism, rioting, arson and loot in my life. It was worse than at Chandni Chowk during the 1984 roits. We helplessly made several calls but to no avail,’ said Kamal Kumar, Joint Secretary of Noida Entrepreneurs Association (NEA).
According to the estimates of NEA, property worth Rs 600 crore was damaged in Phase-II only. ‘Over half a dozen factories in industrial area of Phase-II were damaged and a complex was completed gutted,’ said Kumar. He added there were only 15 police personnel to control mob in Phase-II, who took shelter in police station to save their lives.
According to sources, the last minute decision of Noida police chief to send inspector of Phase-II police station to lines without providing any replacement made the police station headless, leading to lawlessness in the area.
‘The hooligans had free run as police was completely absent from action for over two hours,’ said Vipin Mallan, president of NEA. According to eye witnesses, police came into action in the afternoon and took over three hours to control the situation. Additional police and PAC were summoned from neighbouring districts like Ghaziabad, Buland Shahar and Meerut. A flag march was also performed in the evening to send a strong message to hooligans.
According to NEA, over 100 companies were ransacked and their offices were vandalised.
The first report of violence came from Hosiery Complex at 9.30 am, as a group of workers came to the premises. They asked to close the company and around 100 workers went on rampage. Later on, the mob also blocked the roads.
The angry mob not only broke window panes but also looted laptops, desktops and other goods from the companies. Around 90 cars were broken inside Motherson Company only, while eight were burnt.
Protest turned into a riot when mob in groups started attacking companies in other industrial sectors like 57, 63, 62, 64, 66, 81, 82 and 84. A fire brigade and 50 private vehicles were torched.
‘Yes, police initially failed to judge the magnitude of violence but now the situation is under control. These crowds were without leaders,’ said O P Singh, ADG (NCR). ‘We are taking CCTV footage of the companies to identify the protesters,’ added Singh.
The police have detained over 50 people. According to police, over half-a-dozen police personnel were also injured, among whom one constable and three persons are serious.
They are admitted in Prakahs and Prayag hospitals in Noida.
DIG, Meerut, Satya Narayan, along with SSP Ghaziabad Prashant Kumar came to manage the situation. District Magistrate of Noida, MKS Sunderam, has ordered a magisterial probe.
Later in the evening, paramilitary forces were deployed in the area and the Uttar Pradesh government formed a two-member committee to probe the incident.