45 shops razed in Nuh; some belonged to suspects of Haryana's communal violence: Official
Over 45 shops were demolished in Haryana's Nuh, with local authorities claiming that all were built illegally.
The local authorities in Haryana's Nuh demolished more than 45 commercial shops on Saturday alleging they were illegally constructed. The shops near the SKHM Government Medial College on Nalhar Road were razed amid heavy police deployment.
Sub-divisional magistrate Ashwani Kumar said that action was being taken at the direction of chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, claiming that some of the shops belonged to those involved in the communal violence in Nuh.
“The encroachment was spread across 2.5 acres. All of it was illegal construction. It has been found that some of these people had involvement in the recent clashes,” the official said.
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A team from the enforcement wing of district administration led by the local SDM and town planning department officials reached the market area near SHKM Government Medical College and started the demolition drive with the help of multiple earth-moving machines and workers.
"More than 45 commercial shops built illegally are being demolished on Nalhar road," Nuh District Town Planner said while speaking to ANI.
Six people, including two home guards and a cleric, died in the clashes that erupted in Muslim-dominated Nuh when a Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) procession was attacked by mobs on Monday and later spread to Gurugram and its adjoining areas.
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On Thursday, authorities bulldozed about 250 shanties on encroached government land in Tauru town and other areas in neighbouring Nuh district. While outgoing Nuh Deputy Commissioner Prashant Panwar denied the demolition was linked to the recent violence, but home minister Anil Vij later hinted otherwise.
"Ilaj mein bulldozer bhi ek karavayi hai (bulldozer is part of the treatment)," the minister said at a press conference in Chandigarh.
Vij said 202 people have been arrested so far and 80 taken into preventive detention in connection with the communal clashes in Nuh. He also said the way bullets were fired from hillocks and stones collected on rooftops of buildings indicates that Nuh violence was pre-planned.
(With inputs from agencies)
