Uneasy calm prevailed in Vikasnagar town and nearby areas on Monday which witnessed flare-ups of violence on Sunday. However, the police failed to retrieve the body of the deceased Moti Singh from the Shakti canal on the day. The superintendent of police (SP) Rural, Parmendra Dobhal told The Pioneer that the services of underwater drones  and divers  had been used to locate the body. “However, we failed to retrieve the body from the canal,” he said. He further said that the operation would be resumed on Tuesday.

The SP further said that ten persons arrested by the police on Sunday on charges of rioting and damaging public property have been taken into the judicial custody on the day.

He added that Nadeem and Ehesan who had been arrested for murder of Moti Singh have also been sent to judicial custody. The police would demand police custody of the two on Tuesday, he said.

While facing criticism for using excessive force on Sunday in quelling the mob, the SP rural justified the police action. “The National Highway was blocked for over four hours by the agitators. In such a situation, much force was applied as it was required by the developing situation,” he said.

Tyuni resident, Moti Singh had been reported missing by his family members on January 16. The police had  later arrested Ehsan and Nadeem who confessed during interrogation that they had murdered Moti Singh and thrown his body in Shakti canal.

On Sunday, the anger of the local people over the perceived delay in recovery of body of the deceased and alleged apathy of police regarding the case, resulted in eruption of violence.

People from the villages of Jaunsar and Pachwa Doon areas had converged at Vikasnagar town. The agitators had forced the closure of the main market of the town after which they had blocked Yamunotri-New Delhi National Highway.

Violence had erupted when the police tried to open the National Highway. Many police personnel, including the sub- divisional magistrate (SDM) Jitendra Kumar and CO Bhupendra Singh Doni, had been injured in stone pelting by the mob.

Many agitators too had been injured when police cane- charged them. The police had rounded up 12 persons on charges of rioting.