New Delhi, Apr 13 (PTI) An Army brigadier and his IIT graduate son were allegedly assaulted, while his wife was threatened by a group of men in southwest Delhi after the officer objected to two people consuming alcohol inside a parked car near their house, police said on Monday.
The incident took place on Saturday night when two men sitting inside a Mercedes were drinking liquor outside the officer’s residence in the Vasant Enclave area.
When the brigadier objected, a group of men gathered at the spot, assaulted him and his son, and threatened his wife.
Taking cognisance of the matter, Delhi Police has registered an FIR under sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 79 ( any word, gesture, act, or object intrusion intended to insult the modesty of a woman or violate her privacy), 191(2) (rioting) and 190 (unlawful assembly) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
“We have registered an FIR. The accused persons are being traced. During preliminary enquiry, a lapse was found on the part of the inspector/investigation, and he has been sent to district lines,” police said in a statement.
The Indian Army has also taken cognisance of the incident.
“The authorities in the Indian Army have taken serious cognisance of the case. A Military Police team has been directed to assist the officer. Delhi Police has been approached for expeditious investigation and action on priority,” it read.
Several videos of the incident, recorded by family members, have surfaced on social media, showing two men inside a car holding a liquor bottle.
A former army officer, Colonel Danvir Singh, said in a post on X, “I just spoke to the Brigadier. A serving soldier who after dinner was taking a walk outside the society premises with his IITian son.” In his post, he alleged that these “Mercedes Benz goons” were consuming alcohol in public. On being objected, the Brigadier and his son were assaulted by seven to eight accomplices of these antisocial elements who were close by and called in by the car-o-bar duo.
He alleged that the brigadier, who was part of numerous operations in the hinterland of Kashmir and also trans LC, and his son sustained injuries in the scuffle that ensued.
“Don’t be shocked, the police was also present. I wonder how the society and the police conducts itself is shocking more so in the national capital,” Colonel Singh said.
“Least he would have never thought of that one day he will be on the receiving side fighting the evil in the society he once risked his life for, while the police kept itself as mute spectator,” he alleged.
Speaking to media persons, the brigadier’s son, Tejas Singh Arora, said, “On Saturday night, after dinner, my father, Brigadier Parminder Singh Arora, and I were out for a walk. We saw two men inside a luxury car openly drinking and smoking.” He said that they politely asked the men to move elsewhere, as it was a residential area and public drinking was inappropriate.
“The moment we requested them to leave, they became hostile and dared us to call anyone. My father then asked me to call the police control room,” he said.
Arora alleged that when police personnel arrived, they refused to record their complaint. Instead, one of the men spoke to the officer over the phone, after which the officer told them he would deal with the matter later.
“Soon after, seven to eight men arrived in two vehicles and started thrashing us and abusing my mother. They were associates of the accused,” he claimed.
He told the reporters that he was repeatedly assaulted for around 15 minutes in the presence of police personnel.
“Five to six men kept beating me continuously, while my father was also surrounded. We had called the police, but they did not intervene,” he alleged.
Tejas sustained injuries to his face, neck and palm. He alleged that the responding officer remained inside his vehicle and did not offer any assistance.
The brigadier’s wife also alleged that the officer present at the spot refused to intervene despite her requests.
“The officer did not step in as the men continued assaulting my son. When I pleaded for help, he said he could act only after his team arrived,” she claimed.
She said that after the attackers left, the officer refused to take them to the police station and instead opened the boot of the vehicle.
“You are not the kind of people who deserve to sit on the seats,” she quoted the officer as saying.
At the police station, the family claimed they faced further harassment.
“They kept us waiting for about half an hour. A woman officer told us they did not have ‘free time’ as we had called the PCR multiple times. When my husband said we were both in uniform and deserved basic respect, she became aggressive,” the brigadier’s wife told the reporters.
She also claimed that despite her son bleeding, the police insisted on an MLC report before registering the complaint and did not provide a vehicle to take them to the hospital.
“Eventually, my husband took our son to the Army Hospital himself for treatment and X-rays,” she alleged.
An officer privy to the investigation said that the allegations of not taking them to the hospital are baseless, as they were given medical assistance.
“They preferred to go to a military hospital. Our team supported them. Rest teams are probing all the angles,” the officer said.
A Submariner Veteran GeoStrategy Entrepreneur Environmentalist, Ashok Bijalwan, posted the entire matter on his social media handle X.
Ashok Bijalwan said that the incident occurred at around 10 pm on April 11 when the Brigadier and his IIT graduate son were out for a walk near their residential society. The two men in the car were reportedly drinking in public when the Brigadier confronted them, the post said. PTI BM MSJ BM HIG HIG
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