Nuh Violence Reason: What went wrong in Haryana; Too few cops, too many lapses | Gurgaon News – Times of India

GURGAON: For days, provocative social media posts and threats of violence charged the atmosphere in the buildup to the Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra in Nuh, where stone pelting by a mob on Monday afternoon triggered a spate of communal violence. But the police and administration’s response to warning signs evident before the yatra and the emerging law-and-order problem was riddled with lapses.

Also See: Haryana Violence Live
On the day of the yatra, which was flagged off from Gurgaon, the number of forces on the ground was just about 30% of last year’s deployment for the same procession – 800 cops against 2,500 in 2022. Many of them were homeguards and personal security officers (PSO), who can handle crowd management but don’t have specialised training to tackle a serious law-and-order threat.

The police personnel present were not equipped with anti-riot gear, tear gas and water cannons. When stone pelting began in Nalhar, the cops, who had just lathis, also came under attack and ran for safety. According to police sources, some cops from Nuh had been sent to Rewari on VIP duty on Monday and the district had called in 100 cops from Gurgaon for the yatra.
“Around 100 to 130 cops were sent to Rewari. We had to manage the entire situation. But Gurgaon police were on standby and reached Nuh soon after clashes began,” a senior police officer told TOI on Wednesday.
The police problem was complicated as Nuh SP Varun Singla was on leave and Palwal SP Lokendra Singh, who was given additional charge of Nuh, wasn’t on the ground.
On Tuesday, deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala admitted that “management (of the procession) was not at its best”. “The SP (Nuh) was on leave due to a family situation and the charge was given to the SP of a neighbouring district who could not assess the situation in a better manner,” he told a national English daily. The Palwal SP could not be reached for a comment till the evening.
The deputy CM had also said the authorities did not have an estimate of the number of worshippers who were to attend the yatra.
Ajit Singh of Vishva Hindu Parishad, the main organizer of the yatra, said permission was taken for the procession, but they could not give an advance estimate as people came from Nuh and other areas to attend the yatra.
Police sources told TOI that approximately 5,000 people attended the yatra on Monday, and that figure wasn’t unusual.
Sardar Gurcharan Singh, head of the management committee of the Nalhar temple, among the places that participants of the annual yatra visit, said a bhandara (communal meal) had been organised for 15,000 people in 2022.
Asked why adequate pre-emptive action wasn’t taken though there were online threat videos, a government official said it was usual for officers posted in Nuh to visit hometowns during the weekends. Some residents of Nuh asked why peace committee meetings, which involve religious leaders of different communities, were not held after the videos were circulated.
The presence of arms, which Union minister and Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh has flagged, also shows an intelligence failure. A CID official posted in Nuh told TOI arms were brought into the district days before the procession and on the day of the clashes. He said the intelligence was shared with Nuh cops, but a police officer denied it.
Senior government officials said on Wednesday that it appeared the authorities in Nuh did not assess signs of tension. “An incident of this scale cannot happen spontaneously,” a senior official said.
On intelligence lapses, Haryana DGP PK Agarwal said many questions arose after the incidents, but the immediate focus was to bring the situation under control.