Nuh: Structures 'used for pelting stones' bulldozed

Authorities in Nuh district Sunday razed some illegal structures including a hotel from where stones were allegedly pelted on a religious procession last week, even as a mahapanchayat was held in support of four men arrested over arson at a mosque and the death of its junior imam.

Sunday was the fourth day of demolition drive after the communal flare-up in the district, with Deputy Commissioner Dhirender Khadgata saying a total of 162 illegally built permanent and 591 makeshift structures were razed and 57.5 acre land across 37 sites made encroachment-free.

Trinamool Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale and some others, however, questioned the demolition drive alleging it targeted only a particular community.

"For the last 2 days, the Nuh District Administration has been demolishing houses and shops belonging to Muslims who they claim are 'illegal immigrants & Rohingyas encroaching on govt land'," Gokhale alleged.

He also said on Twitter he has written to Nuh Sub-divisional Magistrate Ashwani Kumar seeking an explanation.

A four-member Communist Party of India (CPI) tried to visit the violence-affected villages near Nuh but was stopped by police citing prohibitory orders.

"We have decided to go back because we don't want any confrontation. Hooligans, goons and miscreants can go freely, but democratic people who have come here for peacemaking are stopped," CPI Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam said.

SDM Kumar said the 16 structures, including the Sahara Family restaurant-cum-hotel, that were identified for demolition on Sunday were built illegally and were used by 'hooligans' to throw stones during the clashes that began in Nuh last Monday and spread to neighbouring Gurugram.

Six people, including two home guards and a cleric, died in the communal clashes that erupted when the Vishva Hindu Parishad procession was attacked by mobs on Monday in Nuh.

On Tuesday, Anjuman Masjid was set ablaze in the Sector 57 area of Gurugram and its 26-year-old junior imam was killed. Police have arrested four people -- Ankit, Rahul, Ravinder and Rakesh -- from the nearby Tigra village in connection with the incident.

A mahapanchayat of the Hindu community was organised in Tigra village on Sunday in protest against their arrest.

The mahapanchayat claimed those arrested have nothing to do with the case, and formed a 100-member committee which plans to meet the district magistrate on Monday and submit a memorandum demanding their release.

They also demanded the mosque be removed from there.

"It is in a Hindu-dominated area where there is no need for a mosque," said one of the speakers at the mahapanchayat.

The district administration had on Saturday bulldozed illegal constructions at 12 different places including on 2.6 acres of land around Nalhar Medical College.

"These were illegal constructions. Notices were already given to the owners of the demolished structures. The owners of some illegal structures were also involved in the violence during the Braj Mandal religious yatra. The demolition drive will continue," SDM Kumar had said on Saturday.

Home Minister Anil Vij, meanwhile, on Sunday apparently hinted he was not kept in the loop over the situation.

"Dekhiye, Nuh mamle mein jo bhi batayenge mukhya mantri ji batayenge, unhi ke paas sari soochnaye hai. Jo kuchh maine kehna tha mein keh chuka (See, on the Nuh issue, whatever has to be said only the chief minister will tell you...he has all the information. Whatever I had to say (on Nuh), I have said it)," Vij told reporters in Ambala.

On being asked when will internet be restored in Nuh, he replied, "Mujhe nahin kuchh bhi pata (I have no information)."

DC Dhirendra Khadgata and Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarania jointly visited several areas in Nuh on Sunday, appealing to people to ensure that those involved in the riots are arrested.

"The accused will not be spared. The culprits should come and surrender themselves. Otherwise, the Haryana Police knows how to catch them," Bijarnia said.

There was signs of normality returning to Nuh with an official saying banks and ATMs will reopen on a trial basis on Monday, a week after the clashes broke out.

However, in the Ballabhgarh sub-division of Faridabad district, mobile internet and SMS services were suspended from 1 pm on August 6 till 11.59 pm on August 7 in the wake of 'communal tension'.

Also, a group of motorcycle-borne masked men on Sunday allegedly vandalised some shops and injured a few people at two places in Panipat.

The attackers targeted shops belonging to members of a particular community at two places in Panipat, the police said.

The police later rounded up 15 people and they are being questioned, an official in Panipat said.

"The attackers were youths aged between 20 and 25 and were riding motorcycles. They wore masks," he said.