At least 12 police personnel including a woman constable were injured and two police vans damaged as an angry mob went on the rampage in Model Town area in north Delhi over alleged police inaction in the murder case of a 40-year-old woman.
According to police, the family of Kamlesh Devi, a maid, whose body was found on Sunday morning in Ramlila Park, blocked the Grand Trunk Road in Model Town area along with scores of protesters after her body was handed over to them today after postmortem.
"We received a PCR call at around 10 AM that protesters have blocked the road. The demonstrators were claiming that the woman was gang-raped before being brutally murdered by the accused who are absconding," a police official said.
The protesters also alleged that police has been lax in investigating the case as no arrest has been made in the case so far.
When policemen tried to intervene and clear the road, the mob turned violent and started pelting stones injuring 12 policemen, including a woman constable, and two station house officers of separate police stations.
Police had to use mild force to clear the mob. "We brought the situation under control by 3:30 PM," the official said.
The injured were taken to a nearby government hospital, where they were given medical assistance. Five policemen received fractures while the woman constable got head injuries after being hit by a stone, police said.
Meanwhile, police said that they have arrested 18 protesters including a woman. All of them have been booked under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on charges of creating riots and attempting to commit culpable homicide.
A senior police official, citing the postmortem report of the deceased, rubbished the protesters' claim that the deceased was gang-raped before being murdered.
"We are investigating the case from all possible angles but the woman was not sexually assaulted as the doctors have denied it in the postmortem report. A manhunt has been launched to nab the murderers," he added.
