Saharanpur: In the aftermath of the recent communal violence in Saharanpur, senior superintendent of police Love Kumar told TOI that local BJP MP Raghav Lakhanpal Sharma led a mob to his residence and incited them to vandalise the place, scaring the police officer’s children and relatives who were inside the house at the time.The SSP said when 400-odd rioters entered his residence, his family and relatives were in a state of panic despite the presence of security personnel at his house.According to eyewitnesses, angry that their procession was cut short, the rioters broke CCTV cameras, some chairs and Kumar’s official nameplate at his residence. In his brief address to his supporters at the SSP’s residence, the BJP MP reportedly said the “worthless” (nalayak) official will be sacked soon.“My family had never witnessed such an incident when their residence was attacked. My kids were so scared,” Kumar said.An FIR was filed against 12 men each from both the communities, apart from Lakhanpal and former BJP MLA Rajiv Gumbar. The BJP MP, who is a management graduate and alumni of Doon School in Dehradun, has been named in the FIR for leading and instigating the crowd. A three-time legislator, Lakhanpal had won against the Congress' Imran Masood in 2014.Lakhanpal was defiant about the FIR and blamed police for failing to protect victims of the riot. “The SSP was unable to sort out the dispute before it escalated, and then failed to provide security to people caught in the stone pelting. Now he is trying to cover his tracks by finding fault in me,” he alleged.Kumar also sustained injuries in stone-pelting on Thursday when he tried to control the violence that broke out after the BJP MP led an Ambedkar Jayanti procession through Sadak Dudhali, a Muslim-dominated village on the Dehradun Road. The SSP said the organizers carried out the procession despite being denied permission.Kumar said, “It came to my knowledge that there was no precedent of carrying out any procession on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti in the village. So, we didn’t allow it this time too. Notably, no villager from the Dalit community from Sadak Dudhali participated in the procession as we learnt that the mob was made up of outsiders. They (the MP and his supporters) tried to put pressure on me to open fire at the people pelting stones. As a responsible administrative official, I know very well when and what action should be taken to deal with any given situation. When I didn’t pay heed to them, they provoked us by calling us coward. Later, the rioters moved to my residence, vandalised my nameplate and CCTV cameras installed over there. They also turned over chairs in my office and tore down the maps hanging here.”Sudhir Kumar, the MP's representative, told TOI, "Holding any peaceful procession is our constitutional right. We had requested the district administration for the same. On that day, everything was on its way and almost 80% of the procession had been completed peacefully when some anti-social elements from a particular community started pelting stones. As far as the allegation of instigating the people gathered over there is concerned, our MP only expressed the feelings of our workers in a dignified manner. We peacefully reached the SSP's residence to stage our protest. Those vandalised nameplates and CCTV cameras were not our people, but some anti-social elements who should be identified and punished.

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