Haryana Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala breaks silence on violence in Nuh, says situation not assessed properly

Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Tuesday indicated that there were shortcomings of the administration in assessing the situation in Nuh, where communal violence erupted on July 31 during a religious procession.

The state government has extended the suspension of mobile internet and SMS services in the district till August 11, when conditions are "still critical and tense".

Chautala said the additional DGP (law and order) had stated that permission for a procession having 3,200 people was taken by the organisers, and accordingly the police force was deployed.

"...Lack of assessment by the administration which could not assess this entire episode properly. Nuh SP (now transferred) was on leave since July 22, the one who had the additional charge could not assess it properly and the officials from whom permission (for the procession) was taken too could not assess it properly. It is a point which is under investigation," he told reporters here when asked whether there was an intelligence failure to assess the situation.

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The JJP leader had earlier said that the organisers of the religious procession, which was attacked in Nuh by a mob, did not give a proper estimation of the expected turnout to the district administration, a lapse which may have led to the violence.

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

A total of 312 persons have been arrested and 142 FIRs registered so far in connection with the communal clashes in Haryana, Home Minister Anil Vij said in a statement on Tuesday.

The government on Tuesday evening extended the suspension of mobile internet and SMS services in Nuh district till August 11 to prevent any disturbance of peace and public order.

The Gurugram police on Tuesday arrested three out of five accused for allegedly starting a fire in a Mazar at Khandsa village.

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According to police, the five men committed the act after getting influenced by social media posts on the communal clashes that began in the neighbouring Nuh district and spread to parts of the city and nearby areas last week.

Meanwhile, the Muslim body Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has moved the Supreme Court seeking directions for rehabilitation of those whose homes were razed by authorities in the Nuh district of Haryana in the past few days.

The organisation of Muslim scholars, in a statement, said though the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered a halt on Monday to the demolition drive in violence-hit Nuh, it did not order rehabilitation of those displaced and compensation to them.

In Gurugram, police have registered a case for giving a provocative speech in the maha panchayat organized in Tigra on Sunday to protest the arrest of four men accused of killing a cleric.