NEW DELHI: Communal violence broke out in Haryana’s Mewat region on Monday evening, resulting in the killing of three people and shutdown of internet, and schools and colleges.
The deceased include two home guard jawans and a mosque imam. Seven policemen, including a deputy SP, sustained serious injuries when a mob attacked them in Nuh.
The government has deployed 20 companies of paramilitary forces along with state police force to control clashes from spreading in more areas and appealed for peace. However, the atmosphere remains tense.
The BJP government of chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar is now holding meetings with both communities to stop the cycle of violence and bring back normalcy.
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But how did it all start?
Police officials say tension swept in after a video of Monu Manesar, a wanted accused in the murder case of two Muslim men from Rajasthan, appeared on Instagram on Monday afternoon. Manesar, a cow vigilante and a YouTuber, appealed for a huge participation in a Hindu procession scheduled to be carried out in Nand village of Muslim-dominated Nuh.
The religious procession, which is taken out by RSS affiliate Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) every year, came under heavy stone pelting near Nalhar village in Nuh. Shobha Yatra participants also retaliated with stones, bricks and what they could find even as a small number of policemen tried to control the situation.
Sources said that the accompanying police team was so small that it could not do anything substantial to deter miscreants. Some of them got trapped in stone pelting and were severely injured.
Monu Manesar is a wanted accused in the murder case of two Muslim men from Rajasthan
The news of stone-pelting spread like wildfire and soon several parts of Mewat region, including India’s cyber city Gurugram were up in flames. More than 100 vehicles were vandalized and torched by mobs.
In Nalhar, about 2500 people, including journalists, were forced to take shelter in Mahadev Temple and were rescued in hours-long operation which lasted till midnight.
As the situation escalated, the local administration called in police teams from neighbouring districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Rewari and Palwal. They also bore the brunt of the public frenzy.
A team from Gurugram while heading to its designated site came under attack in Nuh, resulting in the death of home guards Neeraj and Gursewak. While a deputy SP, three inspectors and sub inspectors each, an ASI, a head constable and a constable were seriously injured.
By evening, Haryana government announced to suspend the internet to control rumour mongering and clamped down restrictions on movement under Section 144 of CrPC in Nuh and Faridabad. The restrictions were subsequently extended to Gurugram, Rewari and Palwal.
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As the evening progressed into night, violence spread to the high-tech city of Gurugram as mobs set several religious places on fire. An attack on a mosque left its imam dead and another caretaker injured.
All educational institutes will remain closed in Gurugram, Faridabad, Nuh on Tuesday.
Haryana home minister Anil Vij said that the police and paramilitary forces are patrolling sensitive areas in Nuh. On Tuesday morning, he informed media persons that the situation in the district was under control.
“Both communities have been staying in Nuh peacefully for a long time. There is a conspiracy behind this. The way stones, weapons, bullets were found, it seems there is a mastermind behind this. We will conduct a detailed investigation and take strict actions against the people involved in this,” he said.