MEERUT: The Meerut division claims tribunal has ordered 69 identified people, accused of “damaging” public property during a violent protest against the Agnipath scheme in 2022, to pay an aggregate compensation of over Rs 12 lakh. The case relates to the violence that broke out in Aligarh’s Tappal police station area in June 2022. The order was passed under the UP Recovery of Damages to Public and Private Property Act, 2020.
An FIR was lodged at Tappal police station against 66 identified and 450 unidentified accused under IPC sections of rioting, vandalising public property, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, breach of peace, etc. The then Aligarh SSP, Kalanidhi Naithani, said over 30 protesters were arrested in the case. They were released later.
Notably, trains were torched, public properties vandalised, with thousands blocking roads and highways across the country during the stir against the scheme. In Tappal, 12 buses were damaged, and a police outpost was torched. Among the accused protesters, some are aspirants and others associated with political parties or various other civil groups.
Commissioner of the claims tribunal, Alok Pandey, told TOI on Monday, “The case was listed by Jag Datt Singh in the court following the FIR lodged soon after the protest. The claims tribunal on Monday ordered the recovery of Rs 12,04,831 from the identified accused. Each of the accused has been asked to pay a minimum recovery amount of Rs 16,969.”
In June 2022, a large number of youths across the country took to the streets to protest against the central govt’s defence recruitment scheme, a programme offering four-year military service contracts. The demonstrations against Agnipath received widespread support from various groups. Opposition political parties, labour unions, agricultural collectives, youth organisations and student bodies representing different political ideologies united to oppose the scheme.