Cops failed to act as Rohtak schools burnt : The Tribune India

Join Whatsapp Channel

Jat unrest

Cops failed to act as Rohtak schools burnt

ROHTAK: The managements of a number of prestigious public schools and engineering, management and law colleges located on the outskirts of Rohtak that were ransacked, looted and burnt to ashes by youths during the Jat agitation for reservation are now struggling to rebuild the damaged infrastructure.

Cops failed to act as Rohtak schools burnt

Burnt buses of Shiksha Bharti School. Photo: Manoj Dhaka



Sunit Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, February 25

The managements of a number of prestigious public schools and engineering, management and law colleges located on the outskirts of Rohtak that were ransacked, looted and burnt to ashes by youths during the Jat agitation for reservation are now struggling to rebuild the damaged infrastructure.

Many schools and colleges were ransacked, burnt and looted a number of times between February 19 and 24, with the district police and the fire authorities expressing their inability and and failing to take any action. The owners of these schools also maintain most of the institutions owned by members of the non-Jat communities were targeted.

“Mobs comprising thousands of youths aged between 18 and 25 years devastated the infrastructure of three of our institutions: the Rohtak Institute of Engineering and Management, Shamsher Bahadur Saxena College of Law and Shri Ram Global School located on Gohana Road. They looted costly articles, ransacked infrastructure and set the buildings and buses on fire. They ransacked the buildings on the night of February 19 and came back again on February 20, 21 and 22, making sure that no portion of the institutes was left intact,” said Dr Kishore Chawla, director of the institutes.

He said the management had suffered losses to the tune of Rs25 crore in arson and looting.

Varsha Pathania, Principal, Pathania Publlic School located on Gohana Road, said: “We kept on calling the police, fire officials and other authorities concerned but to no avail. Finally, we arranged private water tankers on our own and tried to douse the raging flames. The agitating youths set fire to the building on the night of February 19 and it kept on cropping up in different portions for several days.” The total losses suffered by the school have been pegged at Rs1.5 crore.

VP Setia, treasurer of the Shiksha Bharti Education Society which runs Shiksha Bharti Senior Secondary School on Gohana Road, said the school building, buses and cabs were torched by protesting youths.The school management had suffered about Rs5-crore losses.

Curiously, no harm was caused to building of IB School located just opposite Shiksha Bharti School. The buildings of Sanskriti School and Swami Nityanand Senior Secondary School, also located on Gohana Road, also remained safe.

John Wesley Convent School located nearby was also gutted suffered losses of about Rs5 crore. The management of Silver Bells School, also located on Gohana Road, had also a similar tale to narrate. Indus Public School, owned by Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu’s family, suffered massive losses.

PMO ‘expressed inability’ to do anything

Rohtak: Several city residents have said while they were under threat of attack during the Jat agitation, they had contacted the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), but the officials “concerned expressed their inability to do anything”. “I called up the PMO on Saturday. The official who received the call advised me to contact the Haryana CM's office instead. I told him that police personnel had vanished from the scene while arson and violence were still on. At this, he expressed his inability to do anything asked me to pray to God that good sense prevails among agitating youths,” said Vipin, a cloth merchant at the local Shouri Market. TNS

Police didn’t come to rescue

VK Juneja (in pic), owner, Silver Bells Public School, Rohtak, got a call from the school watchman around 7.30 pm on February 19. He said 25-30 youths had entered the school , started ransacking the building and threatened to burn it down. I called up the PCR. However, no action was taken. A little later, the watchman informed me a crowd of 250-300 youths had set the building on fire. I called up the local fire station, but the official concerned expressed inability to do anything. I kept calling the police, Fire Department and other authorities concerned but to no avail. The miscreants continued to loot articles and ransacked the infrastructure on February 20, 21 and 22 while my pleas to the authorities fell on deaf ears. I called up the SP’s landline number but the official who picked up the phone said nothing could be done. He gave me the SP’s cellphone number. The SP did not pick up the phone. Some police officials visited the school yesterday (February 24) after it was all over. — Sunit Dhawan 

Jat samiti for social boycott of arsonists 

Hisar: The All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) has announced that they will socially boycott Jats, whose role is proved in arson and violence during the agitation. Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, AIJASS general secretary Satbir Punia said those who indulged in violence were not the members of the samiti which held peaceful dharnas at various places, including Mayyar, Sampla and other parts of the state. TNS

Army airlifted 36 foreigners

Rohtak: While Rohtak was rocked by protests during the Jat agitation, Army officials deployed here got 36 foreign nationals and NRIs airlifted to New Delhi, from where they flew to their respective countries (in pic, right). “Those airlifted from Rohtak to Delhi by helicopters included 27 Japanese, four Indians settled in Sweden and three from Italy, and one each from Belgium and Malaysia,” said Major Sanjeev Baliyan, said on Thursday. TNS

93 cases of loot, arson registered

Sonepat: The police have registered 93 cases that include 28 cases of loot, 16 cases of arson and nine cases of attempt to murder, in the district. Several complainants have submitted an estimate of property loss incurred during the violence. Similarly, 1,300 persons have booked on charges of blocking roads and railway tracks. However, no one has been arrested so far. OC

SIT to probe case against Hooda’s aide

Rohtak: A special investigation team (SIT) has been constituted to probe the case against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's close associate, Prof Virender Singh, and khap leader Capt Man Singh Dalal, who have been booked for sedition following allegations of abetting violence during the Jat agitation.  Rohtak SP Shashank Anand told The Tribune that an SIT led by DSP Pawan had been formed to probe the matter. TNS

Top News

High alert across Uttar Pradesh after gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari's death

High alert across Uttar Pradesh after gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari's death

Umar Ansari alleged that his father was subjected to slow po...

Mukhtar Ansari was subjected to slow poisoning in jail: Son

Mukhtar Ansari was subjected to slow poisoning in jail: Son

Ansari's post-mortem to be conducted in UP by panel of five ...

Enforcement Directorate wants AAP's Lok Sabha poll strategy details from Arvind Kejriwal's phone: Atishi

Enforcement Directorate wants AAP's Lok Sabha poll strategy details from Arvind Kejriwal's phone: Atishi

Says actually it is the BJP and not the ED that wants to kno...

PM Modi in conversation with Bill Gates, says India has democratised technology, aims to end digital divide

PM Modi, in conversation with Bill Gates, says India has democratised technology, aims to end digital divide

Says tech can play big role in agriculture, education, healt...


Cities

View All