Mazar set on fire in Gurugram, FIR registered
Gurugram (PTI): A mazar at a village in Gurugram was set on fire by some unidentified people in the early hours of Monday, police said.
According to a complaint filed by caretaker Ghasite Ram, a native of the Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh, it was all normal at the mazar in the Khandsa village when he left for home in the Feroz Gandhi Colony from the mazar at 8:30 pm Sunday.
"Around 01.30 am, I received a phone call from somebody living near the mazar that it has been set afire by some unknown people," he said in a complaint filed at the Sector 37 police station.
He said the fire was brought under control with the help of people. "But when I went there and saw, offerings kept inside the door of the mazar were burnt down. What I have come to know is that a group of 5-6 young boys gathered there and set the mazar on fire," he said in the FIR.
He said this has hurt the faith of the people and "can cause riots in society".
"Action should be taken against the accused," he demanded.
Ram said he has been working at the mazar for about seven years and has seen "people of all religions offering their respect there."
"This is a decades-old Mazar of peer baba and all villagers worship here. It might be some outsiders who set the mazar on fire," he told PTI on Monday morning.
This comes even as section 144 is imposed in Gurugram after communal clashes that began in the neighbouring Nuh district spread to parts of Gurugram last week.
The FIR has been registered against unknown persons under sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 188 (disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house) of the IPC, police said.
A senior police officer said they are trying to identify the accused and arrest them.
Police also said am eatery (dhaba) near Rathiwas village was set on fire on Saturday night, and an FIR was registered at the Bilaspur police station the same day.
Meanwhile, the Gurugram Police also said it arrested on Sunday night 15 people accused of violence in Sohna and they were sent to judicial custody by a court in the city.
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AQI 'poor', 'very poor' in several parts of Haryana, Punjab
Chandigarh (PTI): The AQI in several places in Haryana and some in neighbouring Punjab was recorded in the 'poor' and 'very poor' categories on Friday, the morning after Diwali.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the Union Territory of Chandigarh was also in the 'very poor' category.
At 9 am on Friday, the AQI was recorded at 344 in Haryana's Gurugram, 340 in Jind, 308 in Ambala and 304 in Kurukshetra, according to the Sameer app that provides hourly updates of the national AQI published by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', 401 and 450 'severe' and above 450 'severe plus'.
Among other places in Haryana, the AQI was recorded at 289 in Bahadurgarh, 224 in Ballabhgarh, 288 in Bhiwani, 228 in Charkhi Dadri, 236 in Faridabad, 248 in Fatehabad, 252 in Hisar, 232 in Karnal, 251 in Panchkula, 272 in Rohtak, 259 in Sonipat, 217 in Sirsa and 265 in Yamunanagar.
Chandigarh's AQI was recorded at 303.
In Punjab, Amritsar's AQI was also in the 'very poor' category with a reading of 314.
The AQI in Mandi Gobindgarh was at 331, Khanna at 308, Jalandhar at 253, Ludhiana at 214 and Patiala at 260.
The authorities had granted permission to burn only green crackers for a restricted period on Diwali.
In Chandigarh, the twin capital of Punjab and Haryana, green crackers were allowed between 8 pm and 10 pm. However, in many parts of the city, people continued to burst crackers well past the 10 pm limit.
The Punjab government had recently said only green crackers would be allowed during Diwali, Gurpurab, Christmas and New Year's Eve.
Only green crackers, which are free from barium salts or compounds of antimony, lithium, mercury, arsenic, lead or strontium chromate, are permitted for sale and use in Punjab, an official statement had said earlier.
