Haryana violence: Toll rises to six after Vishva Hindu Parishad reports death of Bajrang Dal activist

Pic/PTI

The death toll in the communal violence in Haryana rose to six on Wednesday with the Vishva Hindu Parishad reporting the death of a Bajrang Dal activist during treatment in a Delhi hospital, reported news agency PTI.

District Vice-President of Vishva Hindu Parishad, Surendra Tanwar, told PTI that during the violence in Nuh on Monday, Bajrang Dal activist Pradeep Sharma was attacked by the rioters and critically injured.

He was undergoing treatment at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital where he died, the VHP district vice-president told PTI.

Mobs killed a cleric, torched an eatery and vandalised shops as communal violence that began in Haryana's Nuh spilled over into neighbouring Gurugram on Tuesday. People also blocked a road and downed shutters over the attack on a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession in Nuh a day earlier.

Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday said six people, including two home guards, have died in the communal violence in the state while 116 have been arrested.

He said that stray incidents of violence reported elsewhere after the Nuh clashes have been brought under control.

The injured have been admitted to various hospitals, including at Nalhar in Nuh and Medanta in Gurugram, the Haryana chief minister said, adding that 116 people have been arrested while a search was on to nab the other accused.

In a statement, Khattar said as per information so far, six people have died out of which two are home guards and four are civilians while several people have been injured.

The conspirators are being identified, he said, while promising strict action against the guilty and asserting that the security of common people "is our responsibility".

Apart from Haryana police personnel, 20 companies of central security forces have been deployed in the state. Three of them have been stationed in Palwal, two in Gurugram, one in Faridabad and 14 in Nuh, Khattar said and appealed to the people to maintain peace.

On Tuesday, Khattar had termed the Nuh violence "unfortunate" and said the attack on a VHP procession was "well-planned which pointed to a larger conspiracy".

"The attack was carried out in Nuh in a well-planned manner to disrupt the (Brij Mandal Jalabhishek) yatra. Police were also targeted, pointing at a larger conspiracy," Khattar had said in a tweet in Hindi.

Home Minister Vij had on Tuesday said someone "engineered" the violence in Nuh to disturb peace in Haryana. On Tuesday, authorities imposed a curfew in the district after the previous day's violence.

(With inputs from PTI)