CHANDIGARH: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday said six people, including two home guards, have died in the communal violence in the state while 116 have been arrested. He said that stray incidents of violence reported elsewhere after the Nuh clashes have been brought under control.
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.
On Tuesday, mobs killed a cleric in a late-night attack on a mosque, torched an eatery and vandalised shops as communal violence that began in Haryana's Nuh spilt over into neighbouring Gurugram. People also blocked a road and downed shutters over the attack on a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession in Nuh a day earlier, and a 'panchayat' targeted Muslims.
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.
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.
On Tuesday, Khattar had termed the Nuh violence "unfortunate" and said the attack on a VHP procession was "well-planned which pointed to a larger conspiracy."
"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 day's violence.
According to the police, vandalism and arson were reported in at least five areas in Gurugram on Tuesday last night. A fire broke out at a godown and an adjoining puncture shop in sector 70A around 9:30 pm on Tuesday.
Two fire tenders were pressed into service and the blaze was controlled within half an hour, police said, adding that around 1 am, three godowns near Teekli village were torched. Two meat shops were vandalised in the Badshahpur area while a godown in Palam Vihar was also set on fire. Slums near Nakhdola village were also attacked by a group of youths, a senior police officer said.
He said that some people tried to set a puncture shop on fire near Maruti Kunj in the Bhondsi area but they fled after seeing a police team in the area.
Meanwhile, District Vice-President of Vishva Hindu Parishad Surendra Tanwar said during the violence in Nuh on Monday, Bajrang Dal activist Pradeep Sharma was attacked by the rioters and critically injured. He was initially admitted to a hospital in Gurugram and later taken to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi where he died, the VHP district vice-president said.
Police have confirmed the death of 32-year-old Bajrang Dal activist Pradeep Sharma.
Haryana DGP P K PK Agrawal and ADGP CID reached Gurugram around noon to assess the situation there. Meanwhile, a mahapanchayat has been called in Manesar over the Nuh violence.