NEW DELHI: Haryana government on Thursday evening razed illegal shanties of immigrants living in Tauru, about 20 km away from violence-hit Nuh, for encroachment on government land.
However, the move to bulldoze the shanties is also being regarded as action against alleged rioters, with both the district administration and the Chief Minister earlier alleging that immigrants were connected with the clashes.
According to sources, it was Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar who ordered the demolition drive.
Illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, who were earlier living in Assam, had allegedly set up the slums on land belonging to Haryana Urban Authority, in ward number one along Mohammadpur road of Tauru town in Nuh district. The immigrants were reportedly living here for the last four years, in more than 250 shanties that were built in about one acre of land.
The bulldozer action was effected in the midst of heavy police and paramilitary deployment, with the administration anticipating disturbances by the infiltrators. The security personnel were also accompanied on the spot by officers from several government departments.
Earlier, police and district administration had alleged that ‘outsiders’, including the alleged infiltrators, were involved in the violent attack on the VHP procession at Nuh Chowk.
There were indications from the Chief Minister two days back that bulldozer action on the lines of Yogi Adityanath's Uttar Pradesh will be taken in Haryana.
Meanwhile, an attempt was also made to vandalise two mosques in Tauru late Wednesday night, which however failed.
It was also declared that Friday prayers (Jumma Namaz) will not be allowed in Gurugram mosques this week. Muslim religious leaders had appealed to the people in the community to offer prayer from their homes.
Also, Nuh Superintendent of Police Varun Singla, who was absent on pre-approved leave when the communal clashes broke out, was transferred to another district and IPS officer Narendra Bijarniya, who had earlier been in charge of the police force in the district from February 2020 to October 2021, was appointed in his place.
Till now, six people, including two home guards and a cleric, have reportedly perished in the communal clashes that erupted in Nuh over an attempt to block a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession. The violence later spread to Gurugram over the past few days. Agitated mobs also set on fire several vehicles, food joints, and shops.
Forty-one cases were registered over the viuolence, while 176 people have been arrested and over 90 detained in the state so far.
Mobile internet and SMS services, which were suspended in Nuh district since 4 pm on Monday after trouble peaked, will be restored again from 12 pm to 3 pm today for people to buy essentials, officials said.
The police have filed seven FIRs for inflammatory social media posts. Also, 2,300 videos are being examined, the officials said. Three accounts which posted inflammatory content on the day of the clashes have been identified, police said.
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