Uttam Nagar Holi Horror: Balloon Fight Kills Tarun, Sparks Protests

Family Protests at Police Station

Tarun's family, along with neighbours and friends, went outside Uttam Nagar police station to protest on Friday. They called for the arrest of all the people involved in the killing. They raised slogans and called upon the police to act more aggressively against the suspects.
Residents insisted the accused’s family and relatives cannot be permitted to live in this area, they added. They said their presence in nearby lanes had heightened fears among others. 

Father's Emotional Statement

Recalling the incident, Tarun's father Memraj claime d that a balloon filled with coloured water accidentally fell on a woman from the other family, which started the initial altercation.
"It was around 11 p.m. on Holi, and we were getting ready to sleep when they came to attack us. Earlier in the day, a small girl had dropped a balloon by mistake, and it fell on a woman from another community. They made such a big deal about it. We even apologised to her," he said.
He added, "They first attacked us, and we rushed to our homes. They then locked our gates from the outside. They were around 10 to 12 people.”

Groups Block Road, Cause Traffic Jam

There were protests initiated by members of both the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and were reportedly at the metro station, where demonstrations by sitting on the road and chanting slogans were observed, the officials said. Traffic came to a standstill amid the agitation, resulting in long lines of vehicles and even ambulances being stuck.
Police officers fought back to disperse the crowd and return to the normal flow of traffic. On Friday, after repeated attempts to convince protesters to clear the road failed, a senior officer said that mild force had to be used. 

26-Year-Old Tarun Killed in Attack

The festival of Holi took a sad turn in Delhi's Uttam Nagar area earlier this week after a man was killed when two families from different communities clashed over a water balloon thrown by a minor. The clashes erupted on the night of Holi on Wednesday, March 4, after an 11-year-old from a Hindu family was splattering water balloons from her terrace on passers-by below, one of which hit a Muslim woman, who objected.
There was a confrontation between the girl’s family and the woman that escalated to violence, police said. Four people were injured in the clash comprising three members of the Hindu family of which 26-year-old Tarun Kumar died on Thursday morning, starting a further outbreak of fighting in the area.