‘Staged’ Holi barb at police in Bisada

Greater Noida: The families of suspects arrested for lynching a Muslim man at Bisada in Dadri last September have accused police and the administration of staging Holi celebrations in the village to project a false picture of normalcy.
The families, and a group of other villagers, had declared they wouldn't be celebrating Holi in protest against what they alleged was a biased investigation being carried out by the state government into the murder of Mohammad Akhlaq at the hand of a mob on September 28.They claimed police had framed villagers — all 18 suspects behind bars, including two juveniles, are from Bisada — to show results.
On the day of Holi, they claimed no villager participated in celebrations in solidarity with them but police brought in "outsiders" to play with colours inside the village, which was then photographed and circulated as proof of normalcy.
Photographs showing some youths playing with colours near the Takshila Gurukulam school in Bisada were circulated on WhatsApp on Friday. When TOI displayed some of the photographs to villagers, they agreed that they were taken in Bisada, but could not recognise any of the youths in them. "None of the youths in the photos are from Bisada. I suspect police and administration called in outsiders to click and circulate photos showing normal Holi celebrations in Bisada," said Sanjay Rana, father of the key suspect in the lynching of Akhlaq. He condemned what he called subterfuge by the police and administration.
"None in the village celebrated Holi. We were busy gathering support for innocent boys from our village who have been falsely implicated in the lynching," he added.
"No one — elders, youth or children — celebrated Holi in Bisada. I guess cops built the effigy of Holika in the village and burnt it, signifying Holika dahan and then spread the photographs to establish Holi was celebrated here," said Om Mahesh, father of another suspect.
Deputy superintendent of police Anurag Singh said that the police had video footage and photographs to establish Holi was celebrated in Bisada. Asked why video and photos were required, he said, "This was just taken to establish the truth."
The villagers have formed two committees to call for a mahapanchayat of Saatha Chaurasi — 60 Sisodiya Rajput villages surrounded by 84 Tomar Rajput ones — to debate UP government's alleged partisanship in the probe of Akhlaq's lynching. "One committee has 15 members and will gather support in the Saatha Chaurasi villages. Another committee of five members will deal with police, administration and media," Om Mahesh added.