1,000 IRB personnel to be stationed in Nuh: Khattar

While widening the scope of Police Enforcement Bureau, Khattar said it has been decided to entrust the bureau with the responsibility of cow protection in Nuh.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday announced to deploy a battalion (around 1,000 personnel) of India Reserve Battalion (IRB) permanently in Muslim majority Nuh where at least 100 police personnel will also be exclusively stationed for the safety of cows.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar addresses a press conference regarding the violence that recently occurred between two groups in Nuh, in Chandigarh on Wednesday. (ANI)

According to Khattar, the decision to permanently station IRB in Nuh has been taken in order to prevent the re-occurrence of violence that has engulfed Nuh and adjoining areas and to immediately deal with any untoward incident in future.

While widening the scope of Police Enforcement Bureau, Khattar said it has been decided to entrust the bureau with the responsibility of cow protection in Nuh. “At least 100 police personnel would be dedicatedly deployed for this purpose,” he said and appealed to Muslim youths to come forward for cow protection.

“There are many Muslims who speak and work for cow protection,” he said, assuring that peace and communal harmony of the state will be maintained.

On Wednesday the state government sought four additional companies of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) from Centre to restore peace in communal strife hit Nuh district even as after the violence broke out 24 companies of Central forces are already deployed in Haryana — 14 in Nuh, three in Palwal, two in Gurugram and one in Faridabad.

Till Wednesday six people, including two home guards, have died in the clashes that erupted in Nuh over an attempt to stop a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession.

Khattar said 116 people have been arrested and 90 detained since Monday’s clashes in Nuh.

Anyone found responsible for the violence will not be spared, he said.

When asked that Union minister and Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh has reportedly said it was not right for participants in a religious yatra to be carrying swords and sticks, Khattar replied, “I don’t have information on what basis he has given such statement.”

Khattar said a close vigil is also being kept on social media and added that strict action would be taken against those found making hate speeches.

He said data of people spreading misleading propaganda on social media is also being collected and action would be taken against them as per law.

Asked if Nuh incident was an intelligence failure, Khattar said let probe be held first.

Meanwhile, in a late Wednesday night development, the state government issued formal orders to immediately shift the battalion headquarters of 2nd IRB from Police Complex, Bhondsi, to Nuh to meet imminent operational exigencies of maintaining law and order, peace and security, according to an order issued by additional chief secretary (ACS-Home) TVSN Prasad.