NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH: At least two home guards were killed, around 20 others were injured and more than 80 vehicles were set ablaze during communal clashes that broke out in the Nuh district of Haryana on Monday. By the evening, the violence spread to Gurugram borders with stone pelting being reported from the Ambedkar Chowk in Sohna. At least 12 police personnel, who had been injured in Nuh, were taken to Medanta, Gurugram.
The Haryana government suspended internet services in Nuh till August 2 and Section 144 of the CrPC was imposed in both Nuh and Gurugram districts. All educational institutes will remain shut on Tuesday. One of the deceased home guards has been identified by cops as Neeraj Kumar, while DSP of Hodal Sajjan Singh has suffered a bullet wound on his head and inspector Sandeep Kumar, in charge of the Crime Unit in Sector 40, Gurugram, had a gunshot injury on his stomach.
The clashes erupted in Muslim-dominated Nuh after unidentified people tried to stop the ‘Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra’ of right-wing outfits VHP and Bajrang Dal following reports of Monu Manesar, an alleged cow vigilante and an accused in the Nasir Junaid murder case in Haryana’s Bhiwani, joining the religious procession.
He, however, didn’t turn up. But a video posted by a Bajrang Dal member in Ballabhgarh aggravated the situation. Stones were thrown at the procession, which led to communal clashes during the yatra, which was flagged off from Gurugram’s Civil Lines by BJP district president Gargi Kakkar. Caught in the crosshair, thousands of people took shelter at the Nalhar Mahadev Temple in Nuh and remained stranded for hours before they were rescued. There were also reports of firing at the temple.