Two accused clash inside court complex

Tribune News Service 

Panchkula, October 22

Two accused allegedly clashed inside the Panchkula courts complex here today where they had come for a hearing in connection with the violence and arson at the residential and official premises of Haryana Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu in Rohtak during the Jat stir for reservation in February 2016.

The case is going on at the CBI court in Panchkula where Ashok Balhara and Dharmender are accused along with 49 others. Balhara alleged that Dharmender threatened to kill him and slapped him. Both are out on bail.

“We are verifying the claims of Balhara. We are looking for eyewitnesses. A DDR has been lodged. The FIR is yet to be registered,” said Station House Officer Inspector Arvind Kumar.

The incident is alleged to have taken place when they were coming out of the court. The area is not under CCTV surveillance.

In the case, the CBI had submitted in the court that the accused had attacked and vandalised the house of the Haryana Finance Minister and set it on fire in February 2016. The accused persons in pursuance of criminal conspiracy with other co-accused persons made attempt to murder the family members of the minister present in the house at the time of the attack. An alleged loss of nearly Rs 14 crore was caused during the arson attack, rioting and dacoity, the CBI submitted.

Later, Dharmender Hooda posted a clip on Facebook where he claimed that he had slapped Balhara as he was abusing the Jat community. He described Balhara as a disciple of Yashpal Malik, who is heading the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti. He accused both Malik and Balhara for duping the community. Dharmender said he didn’t care about police cases.