Violence During Haryana Religious Procession in Nuh Kills

Following Monday's clashes in Nuh district, five people were killed and 200 others —including police officers suffered injuries in Haryana. A group of miscreants from another community attacked a religious procession taken out by Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal on Monday evening by stone pelting and lighting dozens of vehicles on fire, police said. This is when the violence erupted. 'Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra', a religious procession that was commenced by BJP district president Gargi Kakkar from Gurugram's Civil Lines, was reportedly stopped by a group of men at Khedla Mod in Nuh.

Prohibitory orders restricting public gatherings were enforced in the districts of Nuh and Gurugram, Faridabad, Palwal, and Rewari as unrest spread throughout the state. Additionally, till Wednesday, mobile internet services have been suspended in Nuh and Faridabad. It is also suspended in Sohna, Pataudi, and Manesar until further orders.

Reports claim that the clashes started because Bajrang Dal activist Monu Manesar, a cow vigilante was supposed to attend the parade.

Considering the violence, the Haryana government has implemented Section 144 in seven districts of the state. As a precaution, the state government declared Monday night that all schools and colleges in Gurugram and Faridabad will be closed on Tuesday.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday condemned the violence in the state and appealed for peace. “Today's incident is unfortunate, I appeal to all the people to maintain peace in the state. The guilty will not be spared at any cost, strictest action will be taken against them,” he wrote on Twitter. The citizens should cooperate in the interest of the state by following the principle of "Haryana Ek Haryanvi Ek", asserting that all issues can be resolved through dialogue, he added.

Police said that the violence started 10 minutes after the procession of about 200 people began to walk from Edward Chowk in Nuh town. A large crowd is said to have thrown rocks at the group as it made its way down the main route. After initially fleeing away, the Hindu side is said to have regrouped and retaliated.

Those who attacked the procession also set Nuh's cyber police station on fire and robbed them at Edward Chowk which is around 50 km from Gurugram. The police countered by firing six rounds of tear gas in order to disperse the protesters.

Sajjan Dalal, deputy superintendent of police (Hodal), was shot in the head and was in critical condition, said a senior police officer. “He is undergoing treatment at Medanta hospital with inspector Anil Kumar of Gurugram police who has also sustained a bullet injury in his abdomen,” he said.

According to a senior officer, 21 people, including Bajrang Dal member Monu Manesar, have been booked with the abduction and murder of two Muslim men, whose remains were discovered in Haryana's Bhiwani area on February 16.

Since Monday, after riots erupted in Haryana's Nuh, police have been deployed there to restore Law and order, as reported by news agency ANI.

As per the announcement of Haryana government, a peace committee meeting would be placed, on Tuesday at 11 am, in Sohna. Till now 5 people have lost their lives in the clashes.

(Image: ANI)