29 held for arson, riots in Hisar; 150 others identified

The police have arrested 29 persons and identified more than 150 others who were involved in arson and riots in Hisar district during the recent Jat stir in Haryana.

Talking to HT, superintendent of police (SP) Ashwin Shenvi said, “We have arrested 29 persons and identified more than 150 persons who were behind arson and riots in the district. We have also procured mobile videos and CCTV footage of the incidents and the special police teams will soon arrest the remaining 150 persons.”

He said, “The police have also solved two recent cases wherein a man was looted of Rs 90,000 and a dhaba owner was shot at by two youths who failed to loot him in sector 14.”

Notably, the situation in Haryana worsened after All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) leader Hawa Singh Sangwan held a rally in Bhagana village of Hisar, demanding reservation under the other backward classes (OBC) category in government jobs.

Sangwan, after addressing the rally, had marched to Mayyar railway station from Bhagana village and started a demonstration on the railway lines, disrupting the rail traffic. During two days of protest, agriculture minister Om Prakash Dhankar held talks with Sangwan and other Jat leaders at PWD rest house in Hansi and assured them that the Haryana government would provide reservation to the Jats.

Sangwan called off the protest after the assurance, but the Jat youths of Haryana started blocking railway tracks and roads in the state. Later, they started burning public and private property.