Haldwani: Days before the violence that claimed five lives following the demolition of an “illegally built” madrasa in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani Thursday, both local police and senior Uttarakhand police officers received five intelligence inputs, ThePrint has learnt.
These inputs warned of possible retaliation by the Hindu community in response to protests by Muslim groups in the wake of the demolition, chances of strong pushback by residents of Banbhoolpura (where the structure was located) and “influenced and local” Muslims leading to disruption in law and order, and women and children being used as shields in agitations against the demolition.
The first of the intelligence inputs was shared on 31 January — a day after the first notice was pasted outside the structure calling for removal of encroachment — while the last one was shared on 3 February, just 24 hours before the demolition was initially planned to be carried out, it is learnt.
On 8 February, when teams of the local municipal corporation, district police, Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and Prantiya Rakshak Dal (PRD) personnel proceeded for the demolition as part of a larger anti-encroachment drive at Malik ka Bagicha in Banbhoolpura area, they were attacked with stones and petrol bombs in what the the Nainital district magistrate called a “planned attack”.
While three of the intelligence notes, seen by ThePrint, were prepared by the Local Intelligence Unit (LIU), the two others were prepared by the State Intelligence Unit (SIU) in Dehradun. All of them were shared with the Additional Director General (ADG), Law and Order, Inspector General (IG) of Police, Kumaon Range, and assistant to the Director General of Police (DGP) as well as Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Nainital, and Superintendent of Police (SP), Haldwani.
Nainital SSP Prahlad N Meena refused to comment on the LIU inputs. ThePrint reached ADG (Law and Order) A.P. Anshuman via calls and messages, but is yet to gete a response. The report will be updated if and when he responds.
However, addressing a press conference Saturday, SSP Meena said that the police were prepared for the challenges they had anticipated at the demolition site, but as the epicentre of the violence shifted to the Banphoolpura police station, administrative personnel got scattered and therefore it took a longer time to bring the situation under control.
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Specific instructions
In the second input shared with the Nainital SSP, the LIU gave in writing four specific operations instructions to ensure control over possible strong protests by local residents in the wake of the demolition.
The first of the instructions was to carry out the demolition in morning hours to ensure less crowding at the site. It also suggested the use of drone surveillance to detect any gathering of crowds and hoarding of items at the rooftops beforehand.
Notably, the demolition drive began around 4 pm on 8 February, and District Magistrate (DM) Vandana Singh, at a press conference Friday, said the attack was planned as local residents had collected and stocked stones on their rooftops.
The intelligence inputs also suggested that the police administration should remove all religious books and signs from the site which was to be demolished and hand them over to a religious preacher, and that the entire process should be videographed.
Role of women and children
In the last intelligence input shared by the Dehradun SIU, the local police administration was made aware of a “provocative speech” by one Owais Raja, the president of a local committee, in which he had claimed that police were targeting Muslims.
The note also highlighted that nearly 150-200 women from the Muslim community were reciting from the Quran at the site which was to be demolished, and that nearly 300-400 women were present at the site.
The intelligence note further informed the police department that women and children could be used as shields and that any use of force by the police and enforcement personnel would be used to incite local residents. Additionally, the note suggested that provocative slogans at the site by Muslims could also spur Hindus to retaliate, leading to disruption in communal harmony.
The state government Saturday constituted a magistrate-level enquiry committee under the leadership of Kumaon Division Commissioner Deepak Rawat to investigate the violence and submit its report to the chief secretary in 15 days.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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The enquiry should be headed by a High Court judge. Deepak Rawat we all know would conduct a SHAM enquiry. He has better things to do like make a Youtube video of this situation and do self promotion.