Home guard shot dead, several cops injured as mobs pelt stones at VHP procession

A home guard was shot dead and about a dozen policemen injured Monday as a mob in Haryana's Nuh district tried to stop a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession, pelting stones and setting cars on fire, police said. As news of the violence in Muslim-dominated Nuh spreads, mobs in adjoining Gurugram district's Sohna set ablaze four vehicles and a shop, apparently belonging to people from that community. Protesters blocked a road for hours.

Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said three companies of central forces were being airlifted to the state. Prohibitory order banning the assembly of people were clamped in Nuh and Gurugram districts.

An official said about a dozen policemen were injured in the Nuh violence. Eight of them were taken to Gurugram's Medanta Hospital. Among the injured Hodal Deputy Superintendent of Police Sajjan Singh was shot in the head and an inspector in the stomach.


The home guard, identified as Neeraj, died in hospital.

Police said the vehicles set ablaze were part of the procession, or belonged to them. A video clip showed at least four cars on fire. Another purported video showed two damaged police cars. The clip contained sound of gunfire.

Police lobbed teargas shells in an attempt to disperse the mobs. Mobile internet services were suspended in Nuh district till Wednesday to contain the "intense communal tension", the Haryana government said.

State Home Minister Vij said the state government has despatched additional forces from neighbouring districts. "We are also trying to send forces by helicopter," he told PTI.

According to police, VHP's 'Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra' was stopped by a group of young men near Nuh's Khedla Mod and stones pelted at the procession. Cars were then set ablaze.

People in the procession also hurled stones back at the youths who had stopped them, reports said. Later, many took refuge in a temple as police tried to evacuate them to safety.

The yatra was flagged off from Gurugram's Civil Lines by BJP district president Gargi Kakkar. A police contingent was deployed with the procession.

According to some claims, the trigger for the clash was an objectionable video posted on social media by a Bajrang Dal activist in Ballabhgarh.

There were also reports that Monu Manesar, a cow vigilante booked earlier for the murder of two Muslim men whose charred bodies were found in Bhiwani district in February, was supposed to join the procession.

The vigilante, however, told PTI that he did not participate on the advice of the VHP, which feared that his presence would create tension. There were also threats on Twitter daring him to come to Nuh.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar appealed for calm in Nuh, invoking the slogan "Haryana Ek Haryanvi Ek" (Haryanvis are one).

Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda also asked people to maintain peace and brotherhood. Nuh MLA Aftab Ahmed and former legislator MLA Zakir Hussain also issued similar appeals.

Home Minister Vij said he was in regular touch with senior officials.

"Our first priority is to bring the situation under control. We are appealing to all to maintain peace," he said. He told reporters it will be determined later who was responsible for the violence.