Haryana: Security tightened in Nuh, other areas after 'shobha yatra' call

Police personnel check the trunk of a vehicle. Pic/PTI

Security arrangements have been stepped up in Haryana's Nuh and other areas following the Sarv Jatiya Hindu Mahapanchayat's call for a 'shobha yatra' on Monday, despite the authorities denying permission for the procession.

Officials said security personnel, including those from paramilitary forces, have been deployed to keep a strict vigil. Security at inter-state and inter-district borders has also been tightened, they said.

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Permission has not been granted for the 'yatra', Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said in Panchkula on Sunday, referring to the Nuh violence that took place a few weeks earlier.

"Instead of the 'yatra', people can visit temples in their areas for 'jalabhishek'," he said and asserted that it is the state government's responsibility to maintain law and order.

August 28 is the last Monday of the holy month of Shravan.

Haryana Director General of Police Shatrujeet Kapur on Saturday said the administration had denied permission for the yatra due to a meeting of the G20 Sherpa Group, scheduled to be held in Nuh from September 3 to 7, and to maintain law and order in the aftermath of the July 31 violence.

The government has also announced the suspension of mobile Internet from August 26 to 28.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Mamta Singh on Sunday said arrangements have been made to prevent any untoward incidents.

According to a police spokesperson in Nuh, 1,900 Haryana Police personnel and 24 companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed. No outsider will be allowed to enter Nuh. All entry points to the district have been sealed and the road leading to the Malhar temple has also been closed, he said.

Traffic on the KMP Expressway and the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, however, will continue, the spokesperson added.

Nuh Deputy Commissioner Dhirendra Khadgata and Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarniya on Saturday held a meeting with peace committees, the officials said.

Police chief Kapur also presided over a meeting with senior officers of bordering states -- Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and the Union Territory of Chandigarh -- through videoconferencing and called for coordinated efforts to effectively deal with any emerging situation.

On August 13, the Sarv Jatiya Hindu Mahapanchayat had given a call to resume the Brij Mandal Shobha Yatra in Nuh on August 28 which was disrupted after communal clashes in July.

The Vishva Hindu Parishad has said the procession will be taken out and asserted that there is no need to obtain permission for such religious events.

As a precautionary measure, the district administration has ordered the closure of educational institutions and banks on the day, suspended mobile Internet and bulk SMS services, and imposed prohibitory orders in the communally-sensitive district.

It has also imposed Section 144 of the CrPC, prohibiting the assembly of four or more people in an area, till Monday.

In another development, police said Ferozepur Jhirka MLA Mamman Khan has been issued a notice to join the investigation on August 30 about the July 31 Nuh violence incident. Some Hindu organisations had accused Congress MLA Khan of making provocative statements.

Six people, including two home guards and a cleric, were killed in the communal clashes that erupted in Nuh and its adjoining areas after a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession was attacked by a mob on July 31.

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