Day Nuh burnt, police were caught napping

Tribune News Service

Geetanjali Gayatri

Nuh, August 4

From taking inflammatory videos rather casually to failing to gauge the simmering tension coupled with poor planning, including the failure to deploy additional police force or keeping it on standby, created the perfect environment for the July 31 communal clashes.

‘Sit together, find solution’

As petitioners alleged hate speeches during VHP-Bajrang Dal rallies, the top court asked them to sit together and find a solution.

According to the information available, though the VHP’s ‘shobha yatra’ was in keeping with the rules laid down and prior permission of the district administration had been taken after getting the required police clearance on July 27, everything that followed exposed the ill-preparedness of the police administration and has left many questions unanswered. To begin with, the SP had been on leave since July 22 and SP, Palwal, was holding additional charge. The SP was not in Nuh, but in Ferozpur Jhirka, when the clashes broke out, senior police officers said.

DC, SP transferred

• Nuh DC Prashant Panwar & SP Varun Singla have been shifted
• Dhirendra Khadgata is new DC, while Narendra Bijarniya is new SP

There is absolutely no explanation on why he chose to visit another segment when a ‘yatra’ was slated in the city and cow vigilantes Monu Manesar and Bittu Bajrangi had already fuelled tension with their provocative messages on social media. Also, in view of their challenge to come to Nuh and resentment from the minority community after the Nasir-Junaid lynching, no effort was made to deploy more force or keep additional force on standby.

202 held, 102 FIRs filed

• 202 mobsters arrested | 102 FIRs filed | 80 detained
• Panel set up to monitor social media & prevent provocative posts
• Namaz offered at home in the region

Sources said that after the clashes broke out, additional force was requisitioned from adjoining districts. Though this was the best option, it left Gurugram, Faridabad and Palwal vulnerable. Gurugram felt the heat of the Nuh spillover the most. “The police took the ground situation very lightly and treated it like any other ‘yatra’. Resultantly, it ended up as a communal clash,” says Nuh MLA Aftab Ahmed.

Meanwhile, the state government replaced Nuh DC, giving the charge to Dhirendra Khadgata.

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