Six deaths, 44 FIRs, and 116 arrests… Were the police in Haryana equipped to handle the violent clashes?
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00:00A 22-year-old imam, two police officers and a Panipat resident were among at least five
00:06people who were killed in the communal violence that has been raging across Haryana since 31st
00:11July. At least 44 FIRs were filed and more than a hundred people were arrested in the three days
00:24since the violence erupted. Most of the FIRs were filed in Noo, the place where the clashes first
00:38started. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal and the Matri Shakti Durga Vahini had jointly
00:44organised the Brij Mandal Jal Abhishek Yatra. A district administration official told the Indian
00:50Express that the procession travelling on about 80 cars, buses and bikes had permission and about
00:56a thousand police officers were deployed along the route. This was the third edition of the Yatra
01:01but the number of security forces on the ground was less than half of last year's 2,500 personnel.
01:08While the home guards and PSOs deployed could handle large crowds, they weren't trained for
01:13critical security situations. They didn't have riot gear, tear gas or water cannons and were
01:18armed with just lathis during the procession. Moreover, Noo Superintendent of Police was also
01:24on leave and the district was looked after by Palwal's SP who wasn't on the ground. But the Yatra
01:30was stopped midway by a group of young men and police said that stones were pelted on the
01:35participants. Some of the vehicles were set on fire. The attendees fled at first but later allegedly
01:42retaliated.
02:01Police said that the violence was triggered after a video of Bajrang Dal member Mohit Yadav better
02:06known as Monu Manesar surfaced online in which he said that he would be attending the Yatra.
02:12Manesar had been booked for murdering two men, Junaid and Nasir,
02:17in February in a case of cow vigilantism. But he told news organizations that the VHP feared his
02:23presence could create tension and hence he did not attend the procession. By that evening,
02:29the violence had spread to Sona where mobs attacked shops and houses.
02:42An armed mob also entered a mosque in Gurugram at midnight,
02:46set it on fire and stabbed the Imam there to death. As tensions escalated,
02:51section 144 was imposed which banned the gathering of four or more people.
02:56Internet services were also suspended in Noo and Faridabad till 2nd August
03:01and later in Sona, Prataudi and Manesar as well.
03:12As the clashes spread to the National Capital region,
03:17security was tightened in Faridabad, Palwal and Gurugram.
03:30The VHP and the Bajrang Dal also staged protest rallies across different parts of Delhi
03:36and blocked the National Highway on the Badarpur border without the police's permission.