Security Tightened, Internet Suspended In Haryana's Nuh Day Before VHP's 'Shobha Yatra'

Security personnel, including those from paramilitary forces, have been deployed to keep a strict vigil, officials told news agency PTI.

New Delhi: The authorities have tightened security arrangements in Haryana's Nuh ahead of the planned yatra by Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Monday, August 28. The police, however, have denied permission for the procession - which is a follow-up of a similar yatra last month that was disrupted and caused violence in Nuh and neighboring Gurugram. 

Security personnel, including those from paramilitary forces, have been deployed to keep a strict vigil, officials told news agency PTI.

Earlier on July 31, six people, including two home guards and a cleric, were killed in the communal clashes that erupted in Nuh and its adjoining areas after a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession was attacked by a mob.

Haryana Director General of Police Shatrujeet Kapur on Saturday said the administration had denied permission for the yatra due to a G20 meeting, scheduled to be held in Nuh during September 3-7. The state government has suspended mobile Internet till August 28, fearing the spread of rumours through social media ahead of or during the rally.

In Nuh, 1,900 state police personnel, besides 24 companies of paramilitary forces, have been deployed, the news agency reported citing a police spokesperson. No outsider will be allowed to enter Nuh. All entry points to the district have been sealed. The road leading to the Malhar temple has also been closed, the official said, adding that traffic movement on the KMP Expressway and the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will continue. 

The Sarv Jatiya Hindu Mahapanchayat has given a call for a Brij Mandal Shobha Yatra in Nuh on Monday. VHP has said the procession will be taken out and asserted that there is no need to obtain permission for such religious events. However, the authorities have denied permission for the yatra.

As a precautionary measure, the district administration has ordered the closure of educational institutions and banks on Monday, suspended mobile Internet and bulk SMS services, and imposed prohibitory orders in the communally-sensitive district.

It has also imposed Section 144 of the CrPC, prohibiting the assembly of four or more people in an area, till Monday, reported PTI.