Chandigarh: Even as the death toll in the communal clashes that erupted in Nuh and adjoining Gurugram areas of Haryana on Monday and Tuesday, rose to six on Wednesday, the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said 116 people had so far been arrested and massive hunt was on to nab other miscreants.
Stating that social security and peace was the foremost priority of the state government, he said that top administrative and police officers already sent to Nuh were constantly monitoring the situation.
The chief minister said that a close vigil was being kept on social media and warned that strict action would be taken against those found making hate speeches. Apart from this, with the help of CCTV cameras, 116 people have been arrested so far while 90 people had been detained for questioning.
On the situation in Nuh, Khattar said that at present there was a deployment of 20 companies of Central paramilitary forces, out of which 14 had been deployed in Nuh, 3 in Palwal, 2 in Faridabad and 1 in Gurugram. Apart from this, three more additional companies of paramilitary forces had been sought from the Centre.
IRB camp at Nuh
He said that in order to prevent the re-occurrence of such incidents, a battalion of IRB (Indian Reserve Battalion) consisting of around 1,000 personnel would be permanently deployed at Nuh so that any untoward incident could be immediately dealt with. Besides, while further widening the scope of the police enforcement bureau, it was decided to entrust the bureau with the responsibility of cow protection in Nuh for which 100 police personnel would be dedicatedly deployed for this purpose.
He said that six people had lost their lives in the violence, including two Home Guard jawans and four civilians. He said that the families of the deceased would be given a compensation of Rs 57 lakh each as per the policy.
Meanwhile, the chief minister also told news persons that all the people liable in the violence would be made to pay for the loss of private properties.
Six dead in communal clashes
According to information, two home guards – Neeraj and Gursev – were killed on Monday; three deaths – of a naib Imam Mohd Saad of a Gurugram mosque, Abhishek, a Bajrang Dal activist from Panipat and another man (identity yet to be ascertained) were reported on Tuesday, while Pradeep Sharma, a Bajrang Dal activist from Gurugram, succumbed to his injuries in Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi on Wednesday.
Curfew briefly relaxed, says DGP
Meanwhile, Haryana director general of police (DGP) P K Agrawal said that the situation in the state was under control and curfew had been relaxed in Nuh on Wednesday.
Stating that with there being no reports of any violence, Gurugram was completely safe, he said four people had been arrested for allegedly killing the cleric of a mosque in Gurugram.
It may be recalled that after the communal clashes in Nuh on Monday, the news of violence in Muslim-dominated Nuh had spilled over to parts of adjoining Gurugram district and mobs had vandalised several shops and set several vehicles on fire in a few parts of Gurugram as its backlash.
