Nagaur mayhem: Female IPS officer recounts the horror and how she escaped the rampaging mob

Horrendous scenes had prevailed in Rajasthan's Nagaur district on Wednesday as thousands of protesters had run amok, brazenly attacking police personnel, vandalizing public property, while demanding CBI inquiry into the death of dreaded gangster Anandpal Singh.

At the centre of the entire nightmarish scenario was an IPS officer, who was at the receiving end of the mayhem that unfolded before her eyes. And for the first time since that riot-scenario, the officer, ASP Monika Sain, has spoken out.

In an exclusive interview with India Today, Monika Sain revealed what happened on that fateful day, including how she and the district SP were attacked and kerosene poured on her gunman who was about to be burnt in front of her eyes.

"Initially, we received information that thousands of people were going to Sanvrad Railway Station in Nagaur. They were geared up to uproot railway track, to create ruckus. We believed we had officers on the spot to tackle the situation. However, all of a sudden, we received information that more than 7 or 8 police constables were confined to one place. They were being held hostage and they had poured kerosene on three of them and were ready to burn them. We rushed towards the spot. Some committee members from the Rajput community were in a separate vehicle. We thought they could help in pacifying the mob. When we were about to reach the railway station, we saw the large crowd retreating. They must have been in thousands.

"At that point in time, the crowd attacked us. Stones started coming from behind. There were so many of them. We tried to somehow move away from there, but could not as, due to the large crowd, our vehicle got stuck. The committee members were also there in a separate car. The SP got down from the car to just request the committee members to rescue us and to convince these people not to take law in their own hands. But, he was attacked and sustained injuries. The window glasses of the car we were in were smashed from all sides. After the SP got down, five of us were left inside the car including his gunman, me, my gunman, the driver and one more person. Mahaveer, the SP's gunman and Mansharam, the driver, were pulled out of the car and attacked," Monika Sain told India Today.

The ASP confirmed to India Today that she saw kerosene being poured on her gunman in front of her eyes by the mob which also snatched away the weapons.

"I saw, in front of my eyes, kerosene being poured on my gunman by the mob. Fearing that they could turn the car turtle, we jumped out of the car. We also saw them snatch weapons from the gunmen in front of our eyes. The weapons looted by the mob included an AK - 47, 2 pistols. Then, the mob badly beat up the constables who were pulled out of the car. They were in a vicious mood. I saw them burning the official vehicle in front of my eyes. One of the firearms, I believe, got burnt with the vehicle," Sain said.

29-year-old Monika, from 2014 batch, was attacked too. But, she somehow managed to escape the wrath of the vicious rampaging mob.

She told India Today, "I too was attacked. They pulled me slightly towards them. But, I was wearing a helmet. They took off the helmet and realized that I was a girl. There were some good people amongst that mob. I also tried convincing them. The good amongst them somehow prevailed as they asked the mob to be calm. I somehow was apprehensive for my safety and managed to take shelter inside a house. We conveyed to senior police officers what had happened. The residents of that house said we will take you from here (to safety). However, I told them to please inform and they will pick me up. They asked me to wear Rajput dress so as to not reveal my identity. I agreed and wore the Rajput attire atop my clothes. I sustained several body injuries. Even though there are no internal injuries, I sustained injuries on the neck, shoulder. There is pain, but I have been managing."

Angry over the mob attack, Sain mentioned that the leaders should be held responsible if they were not capable of controlling their people.

"All of them were part of unlawful assembly. It was an agitated crowd. The way they poured kerosene on our officers, the kind of speeches that were being made by those leaders, they were well aware. Maximum number of those people need to be booked," she said.

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