Haryana Mahapanchayat Held Without Police Permission Amid Tension

Gurugram:

A mahapanchayat in Haryana’s Gurugram is being held today amid tensions six days after communal violence broke out in Nuh district and spilled over to Gurugram city.

The gathering organised by the Hindu Samaj Mahapanchayat does not have the police’s permission, a top police source told NDTV.

Nuh and Mewat region, where the clashes took place, are returning to normal slowly, Haryana Police ADG (Law and Order) Mamata Singh told NDTV on Saturday.

DLF Gurugram senior police officer Vikas Kaushik told news agency ANI that the mahapanchayat has assured them the event will be held peacefully.

“For the past two-three days, Gurugram has been peaceful. No incident has been reported. We feel that today’s panchayat will be carried out peacefully. We have had talks with all sides. They have assured us that the panchayat will happen peacefully… The panchayat starts at 9 am. Some 500-1,000 people are expected to come,” Mr Kaushik told ANI.

The Haryana Police are also looking into possible Pakistan connection in the communal clashes. The police said they will not comment on the key details of this line of investigation, but confirmed possible links with Pakistan.

“The special investigation team is looking into this angle and the probe is still on. We can’t comment more on this matter at the moment,” Ms Singh told NDTV when asked about videos of the violence on YouTube driven by Pakistan-based handles.

The district administration Saturday continued demolishing illegal constructions at 12 different places including on 2.6 acres of land around a medical college in Nuh.

“These were illegal constructions. Notices were already given to owners of the demolished structures. The owners of some illegal structures were also involved in the violence during the Braj Mandal religious yatra. The demolition drive will continue,” Sub Divisional Magistrate Ashwani Kumar said.