FIR against 6 over children’s river protest video

Meerut: An FIR was registered against five identified and one unidentified persons after Rampur administration alleged they deliberately made around 15 schoolchildren, aged 8-12, stand in knee-deep water in Ghugha river to record a 39-second protest video over the absence of a permanent bridge, putting the children at risk for political purposes. The case was registered at Sawar police station on the orders of DM Ajay Kumar Dwivedi under BNS sections 125 (acts endangering human life or personal safety), and 353 (statements conducing to public mischief).The controversy followed an earlier video posted on X by Bhim Army chief and Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad, who claimed it showed children crossing a river in Rampur because of the absence of a bridge, while district administration said that the footage was actually from Chamoli district in Uttarakhand. The FIR alleged that after the administration countered that claim, supporters of Azad Samaj Party deliberately took children into Ghugha river, filmed them there and circulated the clip to portray a similar situation in Rampur. “The party supporters deliberately led the students to the river, which was life-threatening, and recorded this clip to defame the administration,” the FIR said.Dwivedi told TOI that students already had an available route and that constructing bridges at all such points was not feasible. “There is already a way which students are using; and it is not feasible to erect a bridge at every kilometre. Students there handed over a memorandum demanding a permanent bridge... Later, the probe revealed that the students were deliberately made to stand to fulfil one’s political needs,” Dwivedi claimed.Police named Gautam, Shivam, Noor Hasan, Shamim-ul-Hasan and Sunil Kumar in the FIR, along with one unidentified person, after block education officer Fotu Lal lodged the complaint. The FIR alleged that the group arranged the photography and videography to make the earlier claim appear genuine and circulated the material through social media and other platforms.The viral footage had already prompted administrative action before the FIR was registered. Within hours of the clip being widely shared on Friday, Dwivedi directed the naib tehsildar to visit the spot and submit a report, following which the official reached the river and spoke to the students; the chief development officer separately sent the DM findings from a survey conducted by the block development officer.The survey found that a paved asphalt road and a concrete bridge provided connectivity to and from Rustamnagar-Raipur and villagers used that route, but it also recorded that students from Rustamnagar travelled nearly four kilometres through Meerapur to reach their govt-aided school in Raipur gram panchayat. The dispute, therefore, centred not only on whether a route existed but also on the longer distance students had to cover instead of using a direct crossing.The demand for permanent bridges across Ghugha and nearby Pilakhar river, however, predates the latest video controversy. Earlier local reports had recorded villagers seeking permanent crossings at several points, including Rustamnagar near Raipur, and said temporary wooden structures used in some areas could wash away during the monsoon, disrupting access to villages, farms and schools.