Haldwani Residents Allege Police Crackdown; Homes Barged, Men Arrested
Residents of Haldwani, Uttarakhand, are living under constant fear as the police crackdown has left them terrified following the demolition of the mosque and Madrasa. People in the Banbhoolpura neighbourhood, where the locals and police clashed over the demolition of the mosque and Madrasa says that the police are barging into their homes, assaulting family members including women, destroying their properties and arresting their men, news portal Scroll reported.
38-year-old Shama, explaining the police ordeal said to the news portal that the police broke into their house around 4pm on Saturday. “They thrashed our belongings and assaulted my husband and pushed us too. They took him away. We have no idea where or how he is,” Shama said about her husband Naeem, a daily wage worker.
Another woman, 22-year-old Mehreen said that her husband Arif was taken away by the police around 5 pm on Saturday, and lamented that she would die without her husband.
The tension was started when the Municipal Corporation demolished a mosque and an adjoining Madrasa in Banbhoolpura, claiming that both were illegal structures built on government land. But, the matter regarding the status of the structure were still pending in the Uttarakhand High Court.
However, the violence which was triggered by the demolition of the structures, resulted in the killing of four civilians. Many police personnel were also injured in the clash between the locals and the poli
Uttarakhand director general of police Abhinav Kumar, noting the attack the police suffered said, “The police had gone to Banbhoolpura in aid of an ongoing, legally sanctioned anti-encroachment drive being carried out by civil authorities. They were attacked by a violent mob that appears to have been well prepared for violence.”
The police said that the stones were thrown at them and the cars were set afire, forcing the local administration to issue a shoot-on-sight order and the imposition of curfew.
Since the February 8 clash, the police placed barricades restricting entry to Muslim-majority areas even for journalists. The reporter who entered into the area described that the shops were closed, houses were locked, and the cars and bikes were left along the road. The vehicles were seen broken in what the residents allege was committed by the police.
When the news of the arrival of the police squad spread, the area would turn lifeless, observes the reporter, noting the fear that the residents are living under. Several others too described their experience of police ordeal including the women being assaulted.
However, the DGP Abhinav Kumar said that the police have no intention of acting against anyone without evidence. “A false narrative is now being constructed about the events of February 7th and their subsequent fallout, we intend to act without any bias in full accordance with the law,” he added. Scroll reported.
