New Delhi: The Nuh administration bulldozed a three-storey hotel-cum-restaurant as the massive demolition drive against “illegal” constructions in the district, which had become the latest flashpoint of communal violence in Haryana, continued for the third day on Sunday.
According to reports, the clashes began on July 31 after some people pelted stones at a religious procession and the police and fired gunshots from the roof of Sahara Hotel. “The building was totally unauthorised, and it was served notices by the government and department. Hooligans had pelted stones on the yatra from here. So, this action is being taken,” Nuh district town planner Vinesh Kumar told the media.
Several shops outside the Shaheed Hasan Khan Mewati Government Medical College and Hospital were also demolished.
The district administration carried out demolition at 12 separate locations on Saturday, covering an area of 2.6 acre near Nalhar Medical College. Nearly a dozen shops, including medical stores, were razed. Shanties of migrants living in Tauru, about 20 km away from violence-hit Nuh, were also pulled down earlier this week for encroaching on government land.
Meanwhile, curfew was relaxed from 9 am to noon on Sunday to allow people can buy essential goods. However, the suspension of mobile internet service in Nuh and Palwal districts will continue till August 8.
While claiming that “there was a big game plan” behind the communal clashes in Nuh, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij had informed that 216 have been arrested, 80 people have been taken into preventive detention, and 104 FIRs have been registered so far. “People climbed hills next to the temples, had lathis in their hands, and gathered at entry points; all this is not possible without a proper plan. Bullets were fire, Someone must have arranged these. From where did weapons come?” he asked.
Notably, six persons, including two home guards and a cleric, were killed in the violence that erupted in Nuh when a Vishwa Hindu Parishad procession was attacked by mobs, which later spread to Gurugram.
