Violence erupted on the final day of the fortnight-long Kanwar Mela as locals of Rampur village near Roorkee, Haridwar pelted stones on Kanwariyas on Wednesday evening when they were crossing a religious place while playing devotional music on loudspeakers. Around two dozen people, including eight policemen, were injured. Some vehicles were also damaged in the free-for-all that continued for some time before police put their foot down and restored order by late Wednesday night. Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal activists staged protest rallies and burnt the State’s effigies at landsdowne in Dehradun on Thursday evening, protesting against the Kanwariyas and policemen being attacked at Rampur, Haridwar.
A case has been registered against 10 known persons and 150 unidentified persons in the Gangnahar Police Station, said Roorkee CO Kuldeep Aswal. He said there was no intelligence report regarding the incident in the village. “We were alert as there were intelligence reports of likely communal flare-ups in some areas of the district. We were caught unaware. However, things were put under control by1 am on Thursday,” he said.
The unsavory incident happened despite adequate police forces being deployed to follow the Kanwariyas when they were crossing Rampur crossing. Stone pelting started at Raipur village crossing where a religious place is located. Seeing things were spiraling out of control, PAC jawans and ITBP personnel aside from more police reinforcements were rushed to the area.
Garhwal Range IG/DIG Sanjay Kumar Gunjyal also reached Haridwar and took stock of the situation of the area along with Haridwar SSP Sweety Aggarwal, SP Rural Parmendra Dobhal, CO Aswal and other senior police officers. Additional forces have been deployed in the area to keep peace, it is learnt.
SP Rural Dobhal said that a case has been registered against ten named and some other unidentified persons in the police station, Gangnahar. Police would soon arrest those involved, he added.
Amit Tomar, a Dehradun-based Bajrang Dal activist, said the state government must be held responsible for the incident. “As part of its communal policies, they failed to ensure security of the Kanwariyas from the miscreants led by a local leader. Haridwar is a hallowed place for the people living across the country. If they are being attacked while coming here on pilgrimage things are grim for the country,” he added.