Haryana Congress MLA Mamman Khan was arrested late on Thursday in connection with the communal violence that rocked the state over a month ago, reported The Hindu.
He will produced in a district court in Nuh on Friday.
The authorities have imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure banning the assembly of five or more people in Nuh following Khan’s arrest. Mobile internet services have been suspended till midnight on Saturday to prevent the spread of misinformation and rumours.
“It is emphasised that this order is being issued after taking utmost care of public convenience by exempting individual SMS, mobile recharge, banking SMS, voice calls, internet services provided by broadband and lease lines of corporate and domestic households, thus not affecting the commercial/financial interest of the State and basic domestic needs of individuals,” the order read.
The Rapid Action Force has also been deployed across the district, according to The Indian Express.
Clashes broke out on July 31 between Hindus and Muslims in Nuh during the Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra, a procession organised by the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The violence soon spread beyond Nuh, with Gurugram, in particular, witnessing widespread arson and mob attacks on Muslim homes and shops.
Six persons – including two home guards, an imam at a mosque and a Bajrang Dal member – died in the violence.
Khan was arrested by a Special Investigation Team of the police hours after the state government told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that he had been “nominated” as an accused in one of the first information reports pertaining to the violence, reported PTI.
The Ferozepur Jhirka MLA, who had moved the court seeking protection from arrest, claimed that he was being framed in the case. He said he was not in Nuh the day the violence broke out.
However, the Haryana Police told the court that they had examined his call details and tower location, which was within an area of 1.5 kilometres from where the violence broke out.
The police stated that Khan was summoned twice to appear before the investigating team but he did not comply. In response, the MLA’s lawyer said that Khan learned about his inclusion as an accused in the FIR only on Thursday.
Last month, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij had claimed in the state Assembly that the Congress was responsible for the violence in Nuh and that there was evidence against Khan.
The Congress MLAs, however, had raised a strong objection to Vij’s remarks and accused the government of avoiding a discussion on the clashes.
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