Haryana violence: CM Khattar seeks more central forces; neighbouring states on alert

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday (August 2) sought four more companies of central forces in the wake of communal clashes in the state and said one battalion of the IRB will also be deployed in Nuh.

Twenty companies of central forces have already been deployed — 14 of them in Nuh, three in Palwal, two in Gurugram, and one in Faridabad, Khattar told a press conference. However, he said neither the police nor the army could guarantee everyone’s safety. “We can’t protect everyone,” Khattar added.

The chief minister asserted that those found responsible for the clashes will not be spared. He said the rioters would be identified and made to compensate for any damage to private property.

“We have passed an Act that says the government issues compensation for any loss to public property, but for private property, those who caused the loss are liable to compensate for it. So, we will compensate for loss to public property, and for the private property, we will say that compensation be collected from those who are liable for it,” he said during a press conference.

The damage done

Six persons, including two home guards, have died so far in the violence, Khattar said, and added that 116 people have been arrested and 90 detained since Monday’s clashes in Nuh. He said stray incidents of violence reported elsewhere after the Nuh clashes have been brought under control.

The state government has announced Rs 57 lakh in compensation to the families of the two home guards killed in the violence.

The injured have been admitted to various hospitals, including at Nalhar in Nuh and Medanta in Gurugram, the Haryana chief minister said, adding that 116 people have been arrested while a search was on to nab the other accused.

In a statement, Khattar said as per information so far, six people have died out of which two are home guards and four are civilians while several people have been injured.

Also read: Haryana violence: Mobile internet services suspended in Nuh; Delhi on alert

Neighbouring states on alert

Even as Haryana struggled to quell the violence, an alert was sounded in the three Uttar Pradesh districts of Saharanpur, Shamli, and Muzaffarnagar bordering the state, a senior police official told PTI on Wednesday. Checking is also being conducted to keep an eye on anarchic elements, DIG-Saharanpur Range Ajay Kumar Sahni said.

In Rajasthan, mobile internet services will remain suspended in four tehsils of Bharatpur district till Thursday (August 3) morning, officials said. Prohibitory orders have been imposed in two areas of Bharatpur and 10 areas of Alwar district in Rajasthan, they said. Both Alwar and Bharatpur share border with Haryana’s Nuh district.

Bharatpur District Collector Lok Bandhu said mobile internet services have been suspended till 6 am on Thursday in Sikri, Pahadi, Kaman, Nagar in Bharatpur. Prohibitory orders have been imposed in Kaman and Pahadi, banning any kind of procession or rally in these areas. He said security force has been deployed at the Bhatarpur-Haryana border where every vehicle is being checked.

In Alwar district, prohibitory orders have been imposed for 10 days to maintain peace in 10 subdivision areas. Additional District Collector Uttam Singh Shekhawat said the prohibitory orders will continue till midnight of August 10 in the border areas of Haryana, including Alwar, Tijara, Ramgarh, Govindgarh, Kathumar, Laxmangarh, Tapukada, Malakheda, Kishangarh Bas and Kotkasim subdivision areas.

Nine people have been arrested for allegedly vandalising “two or three” roadside shops on the highway in Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi on Tuesday. Police suspected that the incident may have been inspired by the communal violence in Nuh. Additional police personnel were deployed in the area to maintain law and order.

Bhiwadi SP Vikas Sharma said on Wednesday the police had registered a case against 19 people for vandalising shops, and nine were arrested. Teams have been formed to arrest the remaining accused, the SP added.

Land for new RAF battalion

At a time when Nuh is in the grip of violence, the Haryana government on Wednesday hurriedly sanctioned land for a new battalion of the CRPF’s anti-riot unit RAF to be based in the district, nearly five years after the Centre’s approval.

The sanction to hand over about 50 acres in Indri village of Nuh to the RAF came earlier this week, a source told PTI, adding that the land was earmarked but a final declaration on its use by the force was awaited for more than a year.

Also read: Haryana violence: Slain imam’s village in Bihar cries for justice

On Tuesday, Khattar termed the Nuh violence “unfortunate” and said the attack on a VHP procession was “well-planned which pointed to a larger conspiracy”. The conspirators are being identified, he said, while promising strict action against the guilty and asserting that the security of common people “is our responsibility”.

Apart from Haryana police personnel, 20 companies of central security forces have been deployed in the state. Three of them have been stationed in Palwal, two in Gurugram, one in Faridabad and 14 in Nuh, Khattar said and appealed to the people to maintain peace.

Also read: Haryana riots ‘well-plannned’, says Khattar; VHP demands NIA probe

“The attack was carried out in Nuh in a well-planned manner to disrupt the (Brij Mandal Jalabhishek) yatra. Police were also targeted, pointing at a larger conspiracy,” Khattar had said in a tweet in Hindi.

Home Minister Vij had on Tuesday said someone “engineered” the violence in Nuh to disturb peace in Haryana. On Tuesday, authorities imposed a curfew in the district after the previous days violence.

Also read: Haryana: 1 dead, 20 hurt in clashes over VHP yatra; hundreds rescued from temple