Gurugram: Six months after violence during a Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) yatra in Haryana’s Nuh left six dead, the Haryana Police have cited the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against the accused in three cases while opposing the bail applications by two of them in court.
Two home guards were among the six killed in the violence that broke out 31 July 2023. Several FIRs were filed the next day. So far, the police have booked 80 Muslims, including four Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, in the three cases.
The police added UAPA to the chargesheet 15 January this year, but it became public 16 February when they opposed the bail applications of Osama, a resident of Nuh’s Ferozepur Namak, and Murseed alias Mursleem, a resident of Nehar Colony in Nuh’s Palla. Osama was allegedly involved in two attacks — one on the Nuh cybercrime police station and another on a police vehicle near it. Murseed was allegedly involved in the attack on devotees who assembled at the Nalhar Temple for the yatra.
Nuh Congress MLA Aftab Ahmed Monday said the police have invoked UAPA now “with malicious intent, just to deny bail to the accused”. He said if the cases had warranted UAPA, the police would not have waited six months to invoke the provisions.
The police, Ahmed said, filed the chargesheets much earlier and some of the accused are out on bail. However, they do not want to allow the two current bail applicants to get out of jail where they have already spent months, he added.
“If the police have invoked UAPA for the sake of justice, the same provision should apply in the murder case of the Gurugram Imam, who people targeted after the Nuh violence,” he said.
On 1 August 2023, a day after the violence broke out in Nuh, chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’ stabbed Saad, a naib imam of Anjuman Jama Masjid in Gurugram’s Sector 57, to death, according to one of the FIRs.
Contacted by ThePrint Tuesday, Nuh Deputy SP Surender Kinha, a member of the special investigation team (SIT) looking into the three cases, refused to provide any details about the reasons behind the delay in invoking UAPA.
“This is part of the investigation, and the details can’t be shared with the media,” said Kinha.
Advocate Mehtab Ahmed said the police explained the delay in the court, saying they had moved an application with the appropriate authority for approval to invoke the UAPA provisions against the accused and waited for the response.
“The family members of the accused have decided to challenge the police action before a competent court,” the advocate said.
Also read: Shops burnt, imam killed, mosque torched — how Nuh clashes spawned targeted violence in Gurugram
What the FIRs say
Bail applicant Osama has been arrested in two of the three cases from 1 August 2023.
In FIR number 253, lodged by police sub-inspector Suraj Kumar of Nuh’s cybercrime unit at the City police station, 36 accused, including Osama, have been arrested. They allegedly attacked the cybercrime police station during the violence with stones and fire and burnt vehicles outside it.
The police charged them with IPC sections 148 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 332 (voluntarily causing harm to deter a public servant from duty), 353 (obstructing a public servant), 186 (voluntarily obstruct any person from performance of duty), 427 (causing mischief), 435, 436 (commit mischief by fire), 395, 397 (dacoity), 307 (attempt to murder) and the arms Act sections 54-59.
The second FIR was lodged at Nuh’s City police station on the complaint of Inspector Ajay Kumar, in charge of Kherki Daula police station, Gurugram.
The complaint said a mob attacked a vehicle carrying cops from Gurugram to the violence-hit Nuh near its cybercrime police station. The vehicle overturned, killing home guard Neeraj Kumar and injuring others. So far, police have arrested 19 persons, including Osama, in the case.
The chargesheet against Osama was submitted to the court on November 24, 2023.
The other bail applicant, Murseed alias Mursleem has been arrested in the third case, registered at Sadar police station, Nuh.
It was lodged on the complaint of Mahesh Kumar, a resident of Panipat, who said on 31 July 2023, youths attacked him, his cousin Abhishek, and other devotees after they reached Nuh’s Nalhar Temple to participate in the Jal Abhishek Braj Mandal Yatra. Abhishek died of gunshot and sword injuries.
The accused were charged under IPC sections 148 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 324 (causing grievous hurt), 307 (attempt to murder), and 302 (murder), and the arms Act sections 25-54-59. So far, police have arrested 35 persons, including Murseed.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also read: Rumours, ‘provocative’ videos, open wounds — Nuh tries to unravel what fuelled communal violence