Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 2: Haryana has sought for four more companies of central forces even as the situation recorded considerable improvement after the communal riots that left six killed and more than 100 injured.
The chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Wednesday that Pradeep Sharma, co-ordinator, Bajrang Dal, Badshapur, succumbed to injuries at Delhi’s Safdarjang Hospital during treatment taking the toll in the riots to six including two home guards. Nearly 30 companies of Haryana Police and 20 CAPF companies have been deployed across the State.
Khattar said one battalion of the IRB would also be deployed in Nuh. Twenty companies of central forces are already deployed in Haryana, 14 of them in Nuh, three in Palwal, two in Gurugram and one in Faridabad. The chief minister asserted that those found responsible for the clashes will not be spared.
He said stray incidents of violence reported elsewhere after the Nuh clashes have been brought under control and the situation has become normal now. “The injured have been admitted to various hospitals, including at Nalhar in Nuh and Medanta in Gurugram,” Khattar said. “The conspirators are being identified,” Khattar said, while promising strict action against the guilty and asserting that the security of common people “is our responsibility.”
Haryana director general of police P.K. Agrawal said a special investigation team would be formed to investigate the cases of communal violence and the role of Bajrang Dal member Monu Manesar in the clashes was being probed. If there was any conspiracy, it would also be investigated and the guilty would not be spared, he said.
Addressing a press conference in Gurugram, the DGP said the situation in the State was under control and curfew has been relaxed for a brief period in Nuh. Gurugram is completely safe and there is no report of any violence. Senior officers have been deployed in Nuh and the police force has been directed to strictly deal with anybody violating orders of the administration, he said.
He told reporters that four people have been arrested for allegedly killing the cleric of a mosque in Gurugram. A total 41 of FIRs have been registered in Nuh and 116 suspects arrested and a search is on for other accused. More than 100 suspects have been detained for questioning, the Haryana DGP said. “Two of our home guards were killed in the violence in Nuh. Financial aid will be provided to their families,” he added.
The chief minister said his government had no information about the whereabouts of Monu Manesar whose alleged presence in the rally was believed to have sparked off the riots. “The case against him is filed by the Rajasthan government,” Khattar said. “I have told the Rajasthan government that if they need help to trace him, we are ready to help. Now the Rajasthan Police is searching for him. We don’t have any inputs on his whereabouts. Whether they have or not, how can we say?” he said.
Monu Manesar — wanted for the murder of two men from Rajasthan’s Jodhpur since February — is on the run. But he is said to have circulated an objectionable video that had infuriated some people. Rumours that he was seen at the religious procession held by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal in Nuh, had set off the attack. Some people threw stones at the procession and matters escalated from there. A mosque was torched post-midnight, more than a hundred vehicles were torched and vandalised.
Ripples from Monday’s clash have reached the posh areas of Gurugram, next-door to Delhi, which has been put on high alert. Gurugram had imposed prohibitory orders banning large gatherings early on. But yesterday, a mob of 200 turned up, violating the rule, and torched a row of eateries and shanties near a residential society, reducing them to cinders. The sale of loose petrol or diesel has been banned to prevent incidents of arson.
Security has been beefed up at sensitive places in the national capital in the wake of violence in some districts of neighbouring Haryana, the Delhi Police said. Activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal held protests at multiple places in the national capital against the clashes causing traffic jams. Videos on social media showed Bajrang Dal supporters reciting Hanuman Chalisa near the Nirman Vihar Metro Station. Later, they tried to block Vikas Marg but were removed by police.
“Keeping in view the violence in some districts of Haryana, adjoining Delhi, elaborate security arrangements have been made at all sensitive places in the city and additional police forces have also been deployed where necessary. Any attempt to harm Delhi’s security and communal harmony will be dealt with strictly,” the Delhi Police said.
“Police have enhanced patrolling in sensitive areas and are also holding meetings with peace committees. Social media monitoring is also being done,” officials said.
The Nuh riots has once again exposed the strains between the BJP and its alliance partner in Haryana, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) which govern the state together. In a statement on the carnage the JJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala appeared to criticise the handling of the situation and partly blaming the VHP and Bajrang Dal for the riots, while the chief minister had called it a “conspiracy” to disrupt the peaceful VHP yatra.
“The yatra organisers did not give complete information about the procession to the district administration, a lapse which may have led to the violence. Strict action will follow against those responsible for the incident,” Chautala said. Such an incident has never occurred in the history of the state, he said.
On Tuesday, Khattar had said he suspected a “conspiracy” behind Monday’s clashes and called the incident “unfortunate.” He claimed that some people conspired an attack on those taking part in the yatra and the police, leading to violence at several places. “This is an unfortunate incident. A yatra was being organised, during which some people conspired an attack on those taking part in the procession and the police. Violence was reported at several places. There seems to be a big conspiracy behind this,” he had said.
The rising tensions between the BJP and JJP come ahead of the elections next year, with both parties being non-committal on continuing the alliance. The JJP has expressed discomfort over the BJP-led centre’s stand on issues such as farmers’ and the wrestlers’ protest, which directly affect its vote bank. In the 2019 Assembly elections, the BJP fell short of a majority by six MLAs in the 90-member House and turned to the newly formed JJP for support.
