Nuh victim’s funeral held amid security in Panipat

Mukesh Tandon

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Panipat, August 2

Amid tight security, the funeral of 24-year-old Abhishek Chauhan of Noorwala, who was brutally murdered in the Nuh violence, was held here today.

Abhishek Chauhan had gone to participate in the ‘Brij Mandal Yatra’ organised by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal. He was shot and his neck was slashed with a sword. His body arrived in Panipat on Monday and was kept in the mortuary at the General Hospital.

Following the call of the ‘Sarv Hindu Samaj’, a group of various organisations, including VHP, Bajrang Dal and others, all markets — Insaar market, Assandh road market, Jatal road market, Railway Road market, Tehsil Camp market, Barsat road market, Pachranga Bazar, Main market, Bada bazaar, shawl market, SD College road market, Amar Bhawan chowk market, Sarrafa market etc — were closed.

All schools and colleges were also closed and the Bar members in Panipat and Samalkha suspended their work today. Tensions prevailed this morning after the family and members of various organisations refused to receive Abhishek’s body. They raised slogans against the state government, MP, MLAs of the BJP for the improper security arrangements during the yatra and also for not taking action against the accused.

Enraged over the brutal killing of Abhishek, the members alleged that Ferozpur Jhirka MLA Maman Khan was allegedly behind the communal violence.

They demanded immediate arrest of MLA Maman Khan, Martyr status for Abhishek, Rs1crore compensation for the bereaved family, a government job for family members and action against the accused who killed him.

Karnal MP Sanjay Bhatia, MLA Pramod Vij, MLA Mahipal Dhanda, BJP district president Archna Gupta, Mayor Avneet Kaur, BJP leader Lokesh Nagroo and all councillors, all office-bearers of the RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal and other functionaries reached the hospital. DC Virender Kumar Dahiya and SP Ajeet Singh Shekhawat also reached there.

They held meetings in the Civil Surgeon’s office behind closed doors. In the end, the members of the ‘Sarva Hindu Samaj’ gave assurance to the family and after that they got ready to receive the body.

They took out the funeral procession from General Hospital to the Noorwala cremation ground raising slogans. Members of over 250 organisations along with hundreds of people reached there for his funeral.

A heavy police force was deployed to deal with any untoward incident. The police teams held a flag march in different markets and localities to maintain law and order.

SP Ajeet Singh Shekhawat said no untoward incident was reported in the city. Appealing to the residents to maintain peace, the SP said all SHOs and police force were alert in the district to deal with any untoward incident.