New Delhi: Congress MLA Mamman Khan was arrested Thursday night in connection with the July communal clashes in Haryana’s Nuh and neighbouring Gurugram that killed six people, including two home guards and an imam. He has been sent to two days of police custody.
The Ferozepur Jhirka legislator had been named as a suspect in a first information report (FIR) following the violence.
The arrest was confirmed by Deputy Superintendent of Police of Ferozepur Jhirkha Satish Kumar, who heads the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the incident.
Nuh’s MLA Aftab Ahmed additionally confirmed Khan’s arrest, saying, “The police have informed us of his apprehension.”
Haryana Additional Advocate General Deepak Sabharwal had previously told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that Khan was made an accused on 4 September after a thorough evaluation of the available evidence. Sabharwal emphasized there was ample incriminating evidence against the legislator, a fact he later communicated to the media.
On Thursday, the BJP-led Haryana government told the high court that Khan had been implicated as a suspect in an FIR. The government also said there were phone calls and other evidence supporting the charges against Khan.
MLA Khan had petitioned the court on Tuesday, asking for protection against arrest while vehemently denying any involvement in the Nuh violence. He maintained that he wasn’t in Nuh on the day the violence erupted, but instead at his Gurugram home from 26 July to 1 August.
The government’s counsel contested Khan’s claim, citing compelling evidence to the contrary. The Nuh-Gurugram violence took place on 31 July and 1 August.
Speaking to reporters, Khan’s legal counsel disclosed that Khan had only recently become aware of his name being on the FIR. In response, the court said Khan could pursue appropriate legal remedies “for the protection of liberty in accordance with the law”.
Khan also asked if all Nuh violence cases could be probed by an SIT headed by an officer of at least the rank of an Inspector General of Police. In response, the government counsel said that an SIT had already been formed.
Prior to his arrest, Mamman Khan had been summoned twice by the Nuh Police to cooperate with the investigation, but he failed to appear, citing viral fever.
State counsel Deepak Sabharwal further noted that a co-accused, Taufiq, arrested on 9 September, had implicated Khan. Call details from mobile phones and tower locations associated with Taufiq and the petitioner were examined, revealing exchanges on 29 and 30 July 29, prior to the violence the next day.
The Nuh violence on 31 July unfolded as a mob attacked a Vishva Hindu Parishad-led procession, resulting in the death of six people, with most casualties occurring during the assault. A cleric lost his life during an attack on a mosque in Gurugram in the intervening night.
On Tuesday, the Nuh Police arrested Bajrang Dal leader and cow vigilante Monu Manesar for being the trigger behind the communal clashes. Manesar or Mohit Yadav was previously accused in the murder of two Muslim men in February.
In February, Nasir, 25, and Junaid, 35, were allegedly abducted from Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district. Their charred bodies were found in a burnt car in Loharu in Haryana’s Bhiwani the next morning.
Edited by Tikli Basu