A mob attacked a mosque in Gurugram and killed its 26-year-old naib imam, taking the toll in the violence that erupted over an attempt to stop a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession in Nuh district to five, the police said on Tuesday. The Haryana chief minister and the Opposition parties have appealed for peace in the state. The Opposition, however, blamed the BJP for the communal violence.

Authorities on Tuesday imposed a curfew in Nuh where four people were killed and many others injured on Monday. The victims are Home Guard personnel Neeraj and Gursewak, and a civilian—Shakti from Bhadas village. The identity of the fourth victim is still to be ascertained. The violence spread to neighbouring Gurugram, where a mob reached Anjuman Masjid in Sector 57 after midnight. Some people in the crowd opened fire at the people present in the mosque and also set it ablaze. The imam, identified as Saad from Bihar, died during treatment, a cop said.

Fresh violence on Day 2

A mob set fire to an eatery and vandalised adjoining shops belonging to a particular community in Gurugram’s Badshahpur on Tuesday afternoon. The mob also chanted “Jai Shri Ram” in front of a mosque in Badshahpur, cops said.

A worker inspects burnt items at a shop that was set ablaze by miscreants, at Sector 67 in Gurugram, Haryana, on Tuesday. Pic/PTI

After getting information, police reached the spot but the rioters managed to flee on their bikes and other vehicles by then, officers said, adding that some suspects have been detained. The Badshahpur market was also shut down, police said.

Situation under control

On Monday, the violence spread to Sohna where mobs set ablaze four vehicles and a shop, apparently belonging to people from the Muslim community. The situation in Nuh and Sohna continues to be tense, but under control, said officials. 

Violence ‘engineered’

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said curfew has been imposed in Nuh and Section 144 clamped in some of the adjoining districts. Home Minister Anil Vij said claimed that somebody who wanted to disturb peace in the state and the country engineered this incident. “The level of violence that took place… the way stones were collected, the way weapons were brandished, the way shots were fired, it does not appear to have happened all of a sudden.”

Both the communities live peacefully there, Vij added. “Definitely, it looks like part of a big conspiracy,” Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said. Peace committee meetings were held in Nuh and Sohna, with people assuring the administrations that they will cooperate fully in maintaining peace, officials said.

‘Blow to foundation of our civilisation’

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the National Conference (NC) and the Congress condemned the violence. PDP’s Suhail Bukhari said, “There is a pattern… The dispensation at the Centre is hell-bent on creating and strengthening the fault lines among communities in this country because, for them, the only way to secure their political benefits is to divide people on communalism.”

“They [BJP] are trying to break the unity of this country… We are seeing the current situation in Manipur and now in Haryana where both have the BJP in government,” he said. NC’s Imran Nabi Dar said communalism has spread nationwide. “Day before yesterday, a [RPF]cop killed three Muslims on a train on the basis of racial profiling.” Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said, “The violence being spread in the name of religion in 21st century is a blow to the foundation of our civilisation. This cannot be tolerated under any circumstances.”

23
No of people injured in Nuh violence

10
No of cops among the injured

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