‘Bullets fired from hillocks’: Haryana minister hints Nuh violence was ‘pre-planned’

PTI, Aug 5, 2023, 10:01 AM IST

Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Friday said 202 people have been arrested so far and 80 taken into preventive detention in connection with the communal clashes in Nuh.

He also said the way bullets were fired from hillocks and stones collected on rooftops of buildings indicates that Nuh violence was pre-planned.

In all, police have so far filed 102 FIRs in the matter.

“I want to assure you that anyone involved in the violence won’t be spared,” Vij told reporters in Ambala, adding, the detainees are being questioned.

“It is a big game plan… every person had a lathi in his hand. Were these being distributed for free? Someone must have arranged these. Bullets were being fired. From where did weapons come? We will go to the depth of the matter,” he said.

The minister had earlier on Tuesday too said the violence was engineered and had a mastermind behind it.

However, in a press conference on Friday, the Nuh Superintendent of Police said they have so far found no indication of there being a mastermind behind the clashes.

Nuh Superintendent of Police Narendra Singh Bijarnia said the investigation so far has suggested involvement of disparate elements, which are being identified and arrested.

Meanwhile, when the minister was asked if the administration will resort to bulldozing the properties of the culprits, he quipped “bulldozer, wherever necessary, will be used.” “Ilaj mein bulldozer bhi ek karavayi hai (bulldozer is part of the treatment),” he said.

Haryana authorities have used bulldozers in the past to raze structures of alleged criminals in Nuh and other parts.

On a cybercrime police station being targeted in Nuh, Vij said, “We have taken the incident very seriously.” Investigations are underway to find out who attacked the police station and what records they wanted to destroy, he said.

He said Nuh was becoming a new Jamtara – the Jharkhand district notorious as India’s cyber crime hub.

A massive crackdown was launched earlier this year against cyber criminals and several people were arrested for defrauding people across India.

“In April a house-to-house search was conducted with 5,000 police personnel. Many laptops, several thousand SIM cards and ATM cards were found there, on which action was also taken.

“Now the cyber station that has been attacked, and the way attempts have been made to tamper with the files, has made us launch an investigation into whether cyber thugs attacked the computer systems also of the police station,” said Vij.

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

Vij said police were recording people’s statements and scanning CCTV footage.

He also urged the journalists who have been to Nuh to cover the clashes since Monday to provide videos and feeds to the authorities to help them investigate the clashes.

Vij made the same request to people who were part of the procession where the violence first broke out.

Asked if the authorities had received intelligence about potential trouble during the VHP Yatra, as purportedly showed in TV channel sting, Vij said “at what level the input was there, who was told about it, all these things will be investigated.”

Vij said an Inspector is heard saying something during a TV sting and the video has been sent by him to the Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, for analysis.

If that inspector had any information, then who did he give it to and at what level, this all will be investigated, he said.

When asked about Ashok Gehlot’s allegation that Haryana Police did not cooperate in the arrest of Monu Manesar – a cow vigilante who is wanted in a case by Rajasthan Police – Vij said “Congress chief ministers are known for making irresponsible statements and they talk irresponsibly all over the country.”

“They should come and arrest Monu Manesar, we have never stopped anyone… the Haryana Police also goes to the other states to arrest the culprit, everyone cooperates, we will also cooperate,” he said.

The state Home Minister said all measures are being taken to restore peace in Nuh and nearby districts.

Referring to the Friday namaz, the minister said he has spoken to deputy commissioners of Nuh, Faridabad, and Gurugram, and instructed them to make adequate security arrangements.