Nuh: Following the communal clashes in Haryana’s Nuh district, 170 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, a vast majority of them Muslims, ThePrint has learnt.
According to sources in Nuh Police, a majority of those arrested — around 90 per cent — are from the Muslim community.
On 31 July, a religious procession — the ‘Braj Mandal Yatra’ — in the Muslim-majority Nuh district in Mewat region led to communal violence, which eventually spilled over to Gurugram, Palwal, Firozpur Jhirka, and Sohna, among others. Two home guards and an imam were among the six people killed in the arson and stone-pelting.
One-hundred-and-forty-two FIRs have been registered across Haryana in connection to the violence, according to police sources. Of these 29 FIRs are for hate speech on social media and seven people have so far been arrested. In Nuh, a total of 56 FIRs have been lodged.
Muslims claim that the police have specifically targeted men from the community and not taken action against Hindu men.
“Yes, the majority arrested are Muslims. However, it isn’t like action isn’t being taken against Hindus involved in the violence,” a senior police officer told ThePrint. “Four people (Hindus) have been arrested for torching a masjid in Tauru. Four more have also been identified.”
Meanwhile Muslim families in Nuh anxiously await justice for their men, asserting their innocence.
At the office of Nuh-based lawyer Tahir Hussain Ruparya, Hurjahan, a widow, repeatedly asks him to “save” her sons and son-in-law while he attempts to calm her down, explaining to her the intricate legal process involved.
Her sons Zunaid (21) and Adil (19), and her son-in-law Inam are among those arrested by Nuh Police in connection with the violence that broke out during the Braj Mandal Yatra organised by Hindutva groups Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Matrushakti Durga Vahini.
“On the day of the violence, Inam was sleeping in the house. Zunaid was in the library and Adil had gone to take care of Inam’s shop. My sons don’t do awaaragardi. There is only one phone in the house. Zunaid is preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Adil has enrolled in an engineering course,” said Hurjahan to ThePrint. She lost her husband last Ramadan.
Hurjahan said that on the day after the violence, fearing chaos and clashes, she had asked all three to go to their uncle’s house in Punhana. However, they were arrested by the police while on their way.
She is not the only one in this predicament.
Ajiman, mother to Mustafa (21), another person arrested in connection with the violence, prays outside the district court with a tasbeeh (prayer beads) in her hand, waiting for just a glimpse of her son. “We don’t know why he was arrested,” she said.
“On the day of the violence, he had gone for tuition classes. He was arrested the next day when he had stepped out to buy groceries and we came to know about it only later. He is innocent,” she added.
Mustafa, she said, is pursuing a Bachelor in Medical Laboratory Technology course.
Some families claim that their sons and brothers in custody are under the age of 18. Talima, whose brother Arbaz was arrested, said, “He’s only 17. He was in Gurugram on the day of the violence. They have just picked him up. He is innocent.”
Refuting this claim, Narendra Bijarniya, Nuh Superintendent of Police (SP), told ThePrint: “All arrests have been made on the basis of evidence. Documents pertaining to age proof have been checked before making the arrests”.
What the FIRs say
The 56 FIRs in connection with the violence in Nuh have been lodged on the basis of the complaints of police personnel, eye witnesses who were part of the yatra, and other victims of violence across six police stations — Bichhor, Jhirka, Nagina, Sadar, Nuh city and Tauru.
ThePrint has seen 15 such FIRs lodged, most of them against unknown persons.
The FIRs mention the incidents of rioting that took place on the route of the yatra, damages to public property, descriptions of the mob carrying weapons, burning of vehicles including police cars, attacks on personnel on duty, vandalising public property, and attack on the cyber police station that led to damaging of criminal records.
They also mentioned how 35-40 devotees were trapped inside the Nalhar Shiv Mandir in Nuh. Some of the FIRs state that the mob was mostly made up of members from the “Meo Muslim community”.
Meo Muslims, or Mewati Muslim, self-identify as a distinct socio-cultural ethnic community and are a dominant community in the Mewat region.
The FIRs have been filed under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for rioting, attempt to murder, murder, rioting with deadly weapon, deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs, dacoity, damage to public property among others, and sections under The Arms Act, 1959.
Also read: Nuh violence got India’s attention, but Mewat wasn’t always communal
How the arrests are being made
Sources in Nuh Police said that 20 to 30 people have been arrested under each of the 56 FIRs lodged and 200 more have been identified as involved in the communal clashes by the Nuh Police, and efforts are being made to nab them, sources said.
In the murder cases lodged in the death of six people, 10 to 12 Muslim men from Bharatpur, Rajasthan, have also been arrested. The home guards, sources said, died from stone pelting.
Police sources said that the initial arrests of 20 to 39 persons were made on the basis of the photos and visuals on social media and those captured on CCTV cameras.
“The CCTV footage was screened after being retrieved from shops, buildings etc. Technical surveillance was done analysing call data records to see locations of the accused to identify them. Moreover, the accused’s phones have been seized and their WhatsApp groups and chats are being checked and analysed to trace mobilisation (for the attack on the yatra) … and their role in the violence,” the police source said.
The officer added that “human intelligence” has also played a major role in these arrests. “We have constables in villages and blocks functioning as local, ground-level praharis (guards). They have also gathered inputs from the ground,” the officer said.
Teams under station house officers (SHOs) of the respective police stations where FIRs have been lodged have been formed to investigate the cases. Moreover, eight teams of the Special Task Force (STF) under Haryana Police have been formed to probe the cases.
The police are also keeping track of hashtags and activity on social media platforms like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
Back at the office of Nuh lawyer Tahir Hussain Ruparya, a Rohingya Muslim family awaits their turn.
Mohammed Alam and Hafsa Biba’s son Mehbur Rahman, too, have been arrested in connection with the violence. “A police team came to our house and took him away. They first asked if our son was injured in the stone pelting while he was out…. They said that they are only taking him away for questioning for 15-20 minutes. He hasn’t returned home since,” said Hafsa.
A senior police officer said, “They have been living here for the past 5-8 years and have become very much a part of the community. Two men — Rohingya Muslims — have been arrested so far and some others detained”.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Also read: ‘Hindus are suffering more’ — VHP, Bajrang Dal hold protests across Delhi-NCR over Nuh violence