Rescued from mob, Karnal residents recall nightmare
Parveen Arora
Karnal, August 1
Over 400 persons from Karnal district, who participated in the religious procession in Nuh on Monday, returned to their homes in the wee hours on Tuesday with horrific tales.
They, along with over 2,000 people, were stranded in a temple near Nuh for around eight-10 hours and were rescued by the police late on Monday night.
Well-planned act of hooliganism
We were five persons inside our SUV. A mob started pelting stones at the procession. We had no option, but to escape after leaving the vehicle behind. The mob, with weapons, vandalised our vehicle. It was a well-planned act to disrupt the procession with the aim of mass killing.
Satish Gupta, District President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad
The sports utility vehicle (SUV) of the district president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Satish Gupta, was vandalised by a mob and five persons, including Gupta, saved themselves by escaping from their vehicle.
A person of the district sustained bullet injuries and is struggling for his life at a hospital in Mewat, said some people who were rescued by the police. It was a nightmarish experience for them. They alleged that it was a well-planned conspiracy to disrupt the procession.
“We were five persons inside the SUV and participating in the Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra. The mob started pelting stones at the procession. We had no option, but to escape after leaving our vehicle behind to save our lives. The mob, carrying weapons in its hands, vandalised our vehicle. It was a well-planned act to disrupt the procession with the aim of mass killing,” said Gupta.
Pandit Ajit Shashtri, who also participated in the procession and was stranded in a temple near Nuh, said, “After the ‘Jalabhishek’ ritual in a Shiv temple in Nalhar when we tried to move forward, a mob surrounded the temple and we had to take shelter inside its premises. All people in the mob were armed with stones, sticks and other weapons, which made it clear that it was being planned for the past several days.”
“After repeated requests from the stranded people, the administration and police officials reached there to rescue us,” said Shashtri.
Sandeep Rana, who also participated in the yatra, showed his concern about the safety of people and said the number of police personnel deployed in the yatra was very less. “We were surrounded by a mob carrying weapons in their hands and were clueless about any help from the administration. We experienced a nightmare, which we did not expect and had never seen before,” he added.
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up outside the Hanuman temple and a mosque situated near Tau Devi Lal Chowk in the city. SP Shashank Kumar Sawan visited both places and reviewed the security arrangements. Meanwhile, the police also took a flagmarch in the city. “All forces of the district have also been put on alert,” said Shashank Kumar Sawan, SP. H
