Civil Rights groups in Rajasthan on Tuesday (March 5, 2025) expressed concern over the repeated incidents of assault of the accused persons in an alleged blackmail case at the district court in Ajmer. A former Municipal Councillor from Bijainagar was thrashed by the lawyers and onlookers on the court premises after the remand proceedings in the third such incident on Monday.
The case pertains to alleged blackmail and sexual exploitation of minor girls by some Muslim youths at Bijainagar in Beawar district, which has created communal tension and sparked unrest, promoting bandh calls and protest marches in several towns in the region during the last two weeks. The police have so far arrested 10 persons and detained three minors.
The families of the accused are facing punitive action, as the Bijainagar Municipality has issued notices to them, asking them to produce documents to prove ownership of their houses. Notices were also issued to the local graveyard and Jama Masjid, and a gate of the graveyard was sealed.
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has condemned the attempts being made to give a communal twist to the case and demanded action against those involved in the assault inside the court building. PUCL-Rajasthan president Bhanwar Meghwanshi said the lawyers had taken law in their hands, but no case of obstruction in the public servants’ work was registered against them.
Mr. Meghwanshi also expressed surprise at the statements of Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani, who has asked the police officials to form a special investigation team to probe into the case and favoured a “bulldozer action” on the houses of the accused. “The conduct of the Assembly Speaker, who holds a constitutional post, asking for action in violation of the law is unwarranted and below his dignity,” he said.
The accused come from a poor financial background and they work as daily wage labourers, painters, welders, drivers and mechanics in the local garages, buses and kiosks. The police have claimed that former independent Ward Councillor Hakim Qureshi had formed their gang to lure schoolgirls with mobile phones. The gang members allegedly sexually exploited the girls and blackmailed them into religious conversion.
Two of the family members of the accused have moved the Rajasthan High Court challenging the notices issued by the Bijainagar Municipality for removal of construction at their properties. While seeking stay on demolition of their houses, the petitioners have contended that the authorities were using municipal laws to unleash “collective punishment” on the innocent families without any trial or conviction.
Petitioners’ counsel Syed Saadat Ali said the municipal authorities wanted to undermine the recent directions of the Supreme Court restraining the arbitrary exercise of power for demolition of properties. The High Court has issued notices to the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) and others, returnable by March 7, on the writ petition.
Bijainagar Waqf Management Committee’s president Peeru Mohammed has also filed suits for permanent injunction in the Waqf Tribunal, seeking quashing of the Municipality’s notices to the 150-year-old Jama Masjid and the graveyard and stay on any act of removal or demolition of these structures.
The PUCL and other civil rights groups have demanded that the law be enforced and a fair investigation be conducted, so that justice is served to the alleged victims. Mr. Meghwanshi said the police had not taken any action against those making inflammatory speeches and communalising the incident.
Published – March 05, 2025 11:29 am IST
