New Delhi: The death toll in the communal violence in Haryana rose to six on Wednesday with a Bajrang Dal activist succumbing to his injuries while many shops and godown were torched late on Tuesday night in Gurgaon, which remained on edge after clashes in the Millennium City and in neighbouring Nuh.
Promising strict action against the culprits, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said 116 people have been arrested and 90 others detained since Monday’s clashes. The state police has also registered 44 FIRs and a massive manhunt is on to track down the rioters. The CM has sought four more companies of Central paramilitary forces and a battalion of the IRB will also be deployed in Nuh.
Haryana DGP P.K. Agrawal said an SIT will be formed to investigate all cases of communal violence and the role of Bajrang Dal member Monu Manesar in the clashes is already being probed. He said the situation in the state was under control and curfew was relaxed for a brief period in Nuh.
The DGP said that Gurgaon was completely safe and there was no report of any violence on Wednesday. He said senior officers have been deployed in Nuh and the police force has been directed to strictly deal with anybody violating the orders of the administration.
Gurgaon MP and Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh also briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the prevailing law and order situation in the state. After meeting the PM, he said: “If both the communities were armed, the state government will probe who had provided them these arms.”
The Supreme Court also stepped in and ordered enhanced deployment of security personnel in sensitive areas and a crackdown on hate speech, but refused to stop the proposed rallies by the VHP and Bajrang Dal across the NCR. Saying that hate speeches vitiate the atmosphere, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and S.V. Bhatti also ordered the installation of CCTV cameras in vulnerable places.
The top court said that the CCTV footage and the video recording will be preserved. It also directed that the order be communicated by the registry to the standing counsel for the state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The apex court directed additional solicitor-general S.V. Raju, appearing for the Centre, to immediately get in touch with the authorities and ensure no untoward incident takes place any more. The apex court has posted the matter for hearing on Friday.
Amid tight security by the Delhi police, the VHP and Bajrang Dal staged demonstrations in several parts of the national capital against the violence in Haryana. Carrying saffron-coloured flags and chanting slogans of “Jai Shri Ram”, “Har Har Mahadev” and “Vande Mataram”, the protesters blocked the road at the Badarpur border. The sit-in by the protesters at the border caused a long jam, hampering the movement of traffic from Faridabad to Delhi. The Delhi police has beefed up security across the city and is maintaining a tight vigil using even drones to monitor several protests taking place and other movements.
The VHP also held a demonstration in Noida against the communal violence in Haryana and demanded monetary aid to the kin of two members of its youth wing Bajrang Dal, who it claimed had died in the clash. The Hindu right-wing group carried out its demonstration despite the imposition of ban orders under Section 144 CrPC, which prohibits unlawful assembly of more than four people, in the city in Gautam Buddh Nagar district, where security has been stepped up in view of the clashes in the neighbouring state.
In Gurgaon, vandalism and arson were reported in at least five areas late on Tuesday last night. A fire broke out at a godown and an adjoining puncture shop in Sector 70A at around 9.30 pm on Tuesday. Two fire tenders were pressed into service and the blaze was controlled within half an hour, the police said, adding that around 1 am, three godowns near Teekli village were torched. Two meat shops were vandalised in the Badshahpur area, while a godown in Palam Vihar was also set on fire.
A senior police officer said that slums near Nakhdola village were also attacked by a group of youths. He said that some people tried to set a puncture shop on fire near Maruti Kunj in the Bhondsi area, but they fled after seeing a police team in the area.
VHP district vice-president Surendra Tanwar said during the violence in Nuh on Monday, Bajrang Dal activist Pradeep Sharma, who was attacked by rioters and critically injured, died while undergoing treatment at New Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on Wednesday.
In Chandigarh, Khattar said 20 companies of Central forces were already deployed in Haryana — 14 in Nuh, three in Palwal, two in Gurgaon and one in Faridabad. Asked about his deputy Dushyant Chautala saying the organisers of the religious procession that was attacked did not give a proper estimation of the expected turnout, he said at a press conference that it was not like that. As he appealed for peace, the chief minister asserted that those found responsible for the clashes will not be spared.
Replying to a question on the damage to properties, Khattar said whoever caused damage to government or private properties will be liable to pay compensation and added that Haryana has already enacted a law in this regard.
