Fresh violence in Gurugram's Badshahpur, restaurants, shops set on fire

The violence that started from Haryana's Nuh reached Gurugram's Badshahpur on Tuesday. So far, five people have lost their lives in the clashes that erupted first in Nuh and then neighbouring district Gurugram. India Today reported that restaurants and shops were vandalised and torched by a mob this evening amid religious chants.

According to a report, eyewitnesses said a mob of around 200 had entered the area around 4 pm, armed with sticks and stones. They vandalized several shops and set a restaurant on fire. The mob ransacked shops belonging to a particular community.

Violence broke out on Monday after a group of people pelted stones at a religious procession by Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). Following the clash, the Nuh district administration imposed a curfew in the troubled area and suspended mobile internet services. By Monday evening, tension gripped neighbouring Gurugram, which decided to impose Section 144 in the district till Wednesday, August 2. 

India Today reported that two people, including an Imam, were attacked on Monday night outside an under-construction mosque in Gurugram's Sector-56. The police said that a 26-year-old man was killed and a mosque set ablaze in Gurugram's Sector 57 as the violence spread from neighbouring Nuh.

The mob opened fire in which two persons were injured. One of them died during treatment. The victim has been identified as Saad, a native of Bihar. 

Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Nishant Yadav today said the situation in the district is totally under control. "Sohna was our main focus area, peace committee meeting has taken place there, normalcy has been restored and markets have opened. We have conducted a flag march as well," he said. "In Gurugram one death reported in Sector 57 mosque, 5 vehicles were torched in Sohna and 2-3 shops have been vandalised," the deputy commissioner said. 

Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Tuesday suggested that the stone-pelting stone was pre-planned. He said the incident in Nuh did not appear to have happened all of a sudden. The minister said that the level of violence that took place and also occurred at different points, the way stones were collected, the way weapons were brandished, the way shots were fired, "it does not appear to have happened all of a sudden".

Vij said forces from neighbouring Palwal, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Jhajjar, and Rewari districts were sent after violence erupted in Nuh. "Today forces from other parts of Haryana are being sent," he said, adding that he has spoken to Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla and the state has been allotted 20 companies of central forces. 

The minister said that if the need arises to airlift forces from any far-off place, the Indian Air Force has been asked to be on standby. Some companies of central forces have already reached Nuh, he said, and added that an alert has been sounded in other districts as well. 

On Monday, at least 120 vehicles were damaged during the violence in Nuh. Of these, 50, including eight belonging to the police, were set ablaze. 

As news of the violence in Nuh spread on Monday, mobs in Sohna set ablaze four vehicles and a shop. Police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in large numbers in Nuh and the other affected areas, the police said. 

(With inputs from PTI)