Christian colony students file PIL against police, goons

New Delhi, Feb 3 (IANS) A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Court alleging harassment of students by police and goons at a Christian colony near Delhi University' north campus area.

A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw will hear the PIL filed by Utsav Kumar, a former Delhi University student, seeking police protection for the Christian colony's resident students from the goons of unknown landlords, hired to harass them.

Claiming unawareness about the real owners of the houses or properties, the plea alleges harassment from hired musclemen.

"The unknown landlords have engaged musclemen and boxers and outsiders to intimidate, harass and physically harm the students and extract money from them in cash without issuing any receipts."

"The houses or properties are owned in benami (anonymous) names by politicians, bureaucrats, policemen, property dealers and even one retired judge. The musclemen and boxers often target the students, particularly those belonging the north-east of the country and the Scheduled Castes," the PIL has said.

It alleges that instead of protecting the students from harassment, physical assault and extortion, police help boxers as they act in complete connivance with them.

The students' belongings are often thrown on the road by police who also disconnect water and electricity supply as per the goons' whims and fancies. False cases are lodged against the students to harass them. Police have failed to act upon a complaint about threat to life, it says.

The plea states that though the Christian colony has been declared as a monument and protected under the Ancient Sites and Remains Act, all kinds of construction and repair work are rampant in the area.