Didn’t know about Nuh clashes till 3pm: Haryana home minister Anil Vij

Until 3pm on July 31, hours after communal clashes broke out in Nuh, the top brass of Haryana police and home minister Anil Vij were unaware of the violence in the Muslim majority region, close to the National Capital.

Nuh superintendent of police (SP) Varun Singla was already on a long leave. The additional charge of the district was assigned to Palwal SP, while additional chief secretary (ACS-home) TVSN Prasad was on a pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi in Jammu. And, home minister Anil Vij was tipped-off about the unfolding situation in Nuh by a private person.

“Till 3pm that day, I didn’t know what was happening in Nuh. No police officer or any other government functionary informed me (about the law-and-order issue in Nuh),” Vij said during an “on-the-record” conversation with a group of reporters at his eighth-floor office in the civil secretariat on Friday evening.

“Much to my surprise, I received the disturbing information at 3pm from a private person based in Nuh, and not from any government official, that a large number of people had been taken hostage in a temple in Nuh. I was told that the rampaging mobs had already vandalised a large number of establishments. No one had even informed me about this religious yatra which was attacked by the rioters.”

Without mincing words, the home minister clearly hinted at the collapse of administrative machinery and complete communication gap on the day communal clashes erupted in Nuh when the religious procession marching to a temple and led by right wing Hindu group Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal came under attack from Muslim community mob.

At least six people have so far died in the riots that also spread to parts of Gurugram and other districts. Till Friday, police had lodged 102 First Information Reports (FIRs) and arrested 202 people while 80 people have been detained.

According to Vij, after receiving this wakeup call at 3pm, he was on his feet till late midnight and contacted among others top officers in the Union government for immediate help.

Vij said he first contacted Palwal SP, who was holding additional charge of Nuh.

“SP was clueless...he didn’t know anything,” said Vij. “Then I called DGP (PK Agrawal)...DGP said he will go to Nuh.”

Asked if the DGP knew that a serious law-and-order situation was prevailing in Nuh, Vij kept mum and repeated that the first person who informed him about the communal clashes was a private individual, clearly hinting that the DGP was apparently unaware or learnt about the incident very late.

The home minister said that after alerting the top-rung police officers, including the additional director general of police (ADGP, law-and-order), he spoke with chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

“Later in the day, both of us (Vij-Khattar) updated each other over telephone a number of times,” Vij said.

Asked repeatedly as to when the chief minister’s office (CMO) had learnt about the clashes and whether the CMO was already aware about violence in Nuh, Vij maintained a studied silence.

“I also called up chief secretary Sanjeev Kaushal. When I phoned ACS home Prasad, he said that he was at Vaishno Devi,” said Vij, adding that he did not have any input whatsoever about the yatra being disrupted or “any yatra happening in Nuh”.

Referring to a viral video of Nuh-based police inspector of CID, who claims that he had alerted his superiors in advance about the possibility of violence, Vij said every piece of information that is coming out will be examined to fix the responsibility.

Vij said even as ADGP (CID) Alok Mittal reports directly to chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, the CID chief had not shared any intelligence input with the home department.

He said Nuh violence was pre-planned where bullets were fired from the hilltops and stones were collected on the terraces. “We are going to the depth of this incident...” he said.

He said it will be probed as to who had what kind of intelligence input and how and with whom it was shared at what level and by whom. “I have ordered to hold an inquiry in this regard to ascertain at what level the intelligence input was shared or if there was any input at all...if there was any intelligence input at what level it was shared...all these aspects will be investigated,” said Vij.

“Innocent will not be punished and the guilty will not be spared.”