Haldwani violence: Death toll rises to 6; situation brought under control, say police
Haldwani/New Delhi, Feb 9: Six people were killed in the violence that broke out over the demolition of an illegally built madrasa, officials said Friday as curfew remained enforced in Uttarakhand's Haldwani town.
More than 60 people were hurt Thursday as local residents hurled stones and petrol bombs at municipal workers and the police, forcing many police personnel to seek refuge in a police station which the mob then set on fire.
Seven people, including a journalist, were under treatment Friday at three different hospitals. Three of them were said to be in a serious condition. Others had been discharged.
Altogether, six rioters were killed, Superintendent of Police (City) Harbans Singh told PTI.
A day after the clashes, with curfew in force since 9 pm Thursday, Haldwani's the Banbhoolpura area looked deserted. Stones were strewn on the streets and there were charred remains of torched vehicles.
On Friday, no further incidents of violence were reported from the locality where the madrasa -- which included a "structure" where prayers were held.
Over 1,000 police personnel remained deployed in the city, close to Nainital, officials said. The demolished structures were on government land, and municipal workers and police acted after court orders, they said.
District Magistrate Nainital District Magistrate (DM) Vandana Singh confirmed that orders to open fire, with instructions to shoot the rioters in the leg, were issued when the mob attacked the police station.
Uttarakhand police chief Abhinav Kumar said action will also be taken under the stringent National Security Act against those found to be involved in the attacks on police personnel.
"I don't know how I survived," a policewoman told a television channel from her hospital bed, as she talked about being targeted by local residents who had resisted the demolition.
In Delhi, BJP MPs said the Haldwani violence appeared to be a "conspiracy" and warranted strict action against the guilty.
In Parliament, Indian Union Muslim league MP E T Mohammed Basheer said such incidents should not happen, or the country will suffer. He also referred to the Uniform Civil Code bill passed this week in Uttarakhand Assembly.
DGP Kumar said the situation was under control to a large extent with the imposition of curfew but they are focused on bringing back normalcy in the town within the next 24 hours.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited Haldwani, meeting some of the injured. He termed the violence a "planned attack", and said the stockpiling of arms, stones and petrol bombs suggested this.
"Our women police personnel were brutally thrashed. They even tried to throw a journalist into the flames. It was an attempt to disrupt the atmosphere of social amity and peace for which Uttarakhand is known," he told reporters.
"Action will be taken. Law will take its own course," he said.
"Every rioter involved in arson and stone pelting should be identified and strictest action taken against them", Dhami had said earlier in the day.
Four people were arrested up to around noon Friday, and three FIRs registered, police said.
Around 15 or 20 people seem to have been involved in instigating the violence, a police official said.
"The riot on Thursday was totally unprovoked and a handiwork of unruly elements who were not trying to protect the structures being demolished, but targeting the authorities, the state machinery and law and order," DM Singh said.
Police dispersed the mobs that hurled stones and petrol bomb-hurling mob without using much force until the police station was attacked, she said.
Internet services in Haldwani were suspended to prevent rumours being spread, officials said. Schools are ordered closed for now.
The DM said the structures stood on encroached government land and were demolished after serving an advance notice, in compliance with a court order.
The demolition drive began after the municipal corporation had taken complete legal possession of the two structures, she added.
She said the demolition exercise was not an isolated incident targeting particular structures but part of an anti-encroachment drive being carried out in the state to free illegally-occupied government land, Singh said.
"The structure that is being called a madrasa was illegal. In official records, it was not registered either as a madrasa or a religious structure," she said.
Stone pelting from the rooftops of houses was "planned" as no stones were found on the rooftops during an advance inspection of the area, the DM claimed.
The rioting by the local people area began 30 minutes into the demolition exercise, she added.
In Delhi, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi blamed the violence on "polarisation" created by BJP.
"I am hoping the Home Minister will take cognisance," Chaturvedi said, adding, "If the police have been attacked it is shameful, it shows how hooliganism is prevailing in BJP-ruled states."
The BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Harnath Yadav said, "The incident in Haldwani is a conspiracy. Bombs, country-made pistols and other weapons were used, and government officials and police were attacked. There should be an order to shoot rioters at sight... There is no need to be lenient with them."
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T'gana RTC strike: Talks between govt, employees successful
Hyderabad (PTI): Talks between employees of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (RTC) who were on strike and the state government concluded successfully on Friday as the government agreed to the key demands of the workmen.
Following a day-long marathon of talks between the leaders of the employees' Joint Action Committee (JAC) and the cabinet sub-committee, the government announced after midnight that it acceded to the demands, including a merger of RTC with the government, 11 per cent pay revision and elections to the employees' unions.
A committee comprising officials and employee leaders would be appointed over the merger of RTC with the government, it said.
The RTC management has also agreed to address the remaining issues as well, an official release said.
The employees would call off their strike and the RTC buses would hit the roads shortly, it said.
The employees had been on an indefinite strike since April 22 over a series of demands, including the merger of RTC with the government.
Earlier in the day, a driver of the RTC, who attempted suicide on April 23 during the strike, died at a hospital here in the early hours of Friday.
Shankar Goud, a 55-year-old driver, set himself ablaze by pouring petrol at Narsampet in Warangal district when the employees were staging a protest on Thursday in support of their demands.
Goud suffered serious burns, was initially admitted to a state-run hospital in Warangal, and later shifted to a super-speciality hospital in Hyderabad for advanced treatment.
"He succumbed (to injuries) at about 1.30 am on Friday," a senior official said.
The driver’s body was taken to his relative’s village, Muttojipet in Warangal district, for funeral rites.
Tension prevailed in Muttojipet as his family members and RTC employees attempted to take the body to the Narsampet bus station, where he worked, to enable his colleagues to pay their last respects. However, police did not permit this, citing law-and-order concerns.
This led to a deadlock before the funeral could proceed.
Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar criticised the Telangana government for not allowing the body to be taken to the Narsampet bus station.
Kumar, Minister of State (Home), visited Muttojipet village in Warangal district, where the funeral was held, and paid homage to Goud.
“They (family members) want to take the body to the bus depot for five minutes. Is the RTC bus depot in Pakistan or Bangladesh? They are emotionally attached to taking the body there. The government is hurting sentiments and creating fear among RTC employees,” Kumar told reporters.
He also expressed anger at the police for not allowing the body to be taken to the bus station and staged a protest, according to a release from his office.
RTC employees and BJP workers attempted to take the mortal remains in an ambulance to Narsampet, but were stopped by the police.
Later, after discussions with the police, the family members and RTC employees agreed to conduct the funeral in the village.
Sanjay Kumar, stating he would abide by the family’s decision, left the village after the funeral was conducted there.
Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh, a house, and a government job would be provided to the kin of Goud.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy expressed shock over the employee’s death and conveyed deep condolences to the grieving family, according to the release.
The RTC employees’ JAC had earlier announced an agitation programme from April 24 to 29, including silent marches and submission of memorandums to MLAs and other leaders.
