Toll in Haryana clashes rises to 6

Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday sought four additional companies of central forces following communal clashes in the state and said a battalion of the India Reserve Battalion will also be deployed in Nuh even as the death toll in the violence rose to six on Wednesday with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad reporting the death of an injured Bajrang Dal activist while many shops and godown were torched in Gurugram which remained on the edge following clashes here and Nuh.

Twenty companies of central forces are already deployed in Haryana -- 14 in Nuh, three in Palwal, two in Gurugram and one in Faridabad. Asked about his deputy Dushyant Chautala saying the organisers of the religious procession that was attacked did not give a proper estimation of the expected turnout, Khattar said at a press conference that it was not like that.

Six people, including two home guards and a cleric, have died in the clashes that erupted in Nuh over an attempt to stop a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession and spread to Gurugram over the past two days.

As he appealed for peace, the chief minister asserted that those found responsible for the clashes will not be spared.

Khattar said 116 people have been arrested and 90 detained since Monday’s clashes in Nuh. Anyone found responsible for the violence will not be spared, he said. Khattar said cow protection is a big issue in Nuh and added, “(Cow) smuggling and cow killings take place there.” The state police’s enforcement bureau will be roped in for cow protection with 100 jawans deputed for the purpose. He also appealed to youths from the Muslim community to come forward for cow protection. “There are many Muslims who speak and work for cow protection,” Khattar said.