Haryana clashes: Video shows alleged Bajrang Dal activist opening fire, cops look away

The clip is said to have been recorded on Monday when communal violence broke out in Nuh district when the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad took out a procession through a sensitive area

A video clip uploaded by fact-checker Mohammed Zubair shows a person opening fire at least twice from what has been described as the premises of a temple in Haryana’s Mewat region, in which the riot-hit Nuh falls, on Monday. Police personnel can also be seen on the premises

Sourced by the Telegraph

Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, TT, New Delhi, 04.08.23 : A video clip uploaded by fact-checker Mohammed Zubair on Thursday showed a man opening fire from what has been described as the Nalhar Shiv Temple in Haryana on Monday and police personnel looking on.

Some other youths are also seen carrying arms in the video that shows at least one armed policeman.

The clip is said to have been recorded on Monday when communal violence broke out in Haryana’s Nuh district when the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad took out a procession through a sensitive area after videos that allegedly threatened and maligned Muslims surfaced.

A Haryana police officer said on Thursday night that the investigators were probing the veracity of several videos which are available on social media. He declined to comment on the video posted by Zubair.

In a tweet accompanying the video, Zubair said: “You see the guys shooting from inside the Nalhar Shiv Temple in police presence? There are many ‘Activists’ in T-shirt which has ‘Bajrang Dal Sonipat Haryana’ written on it.”

Later in a thread on Twitter (now X), Zubair identified the person shooting from a gun as Ashok Baba, a Bajrang Dal “activist” from Faridabad in Haryana.

Zubair said Ashok “had recently shared a Facebook post of him meeting Haryana transport minister Moolchand Sharma”.

In another video shared by Zubair, Ashok is seen sitting next to Monu Manesar, the cow vigilante wanted by Rajasthan police in a murder case.

Six people have been killed in the violence in Haryana since Monday. The number of suspects arrested has been put at 116 and those detained at 90.

On Wednesday, a former Intelligence Bureau director had told this newspaper that Monday’s violence “clearly points to some sort of complicity on the part of the administration and police” as he questioned the rationale behind giving permission to the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to take out the procession despite enough indications that it would turn into a major law-and-order issue.

The retired official had said he was shocked to see (in videos on social media) that some of the marchers were armed with guns and swords and were shouting communally charged slogans with the police remaining spectators.

According to Haryana police, Monu has been at large since February this year. Monu, however, keeps posting videos on his Facebook profile and he has appeared on TV on Wednesday to claim that he had nothing to do with Monday’s violence.

Two places of worship were reportedly set ablaze on Wednesday night.

Earlier, the police had disclosed that Molotov cocktails were hurled at the two places of worship but later said a short-circuit could be the reason for the fire in one of the places.

“Investigation is underway,” a Haryana police officer said.

No one was injured in the two incidents that took place around 11.30pm, he said.

While one of the places of worship is located near Vijay Chowk, the other is near a police station in Nuh.

Prohibitory orders are in place in Nuh district in the wake of the violence that broke out on Monday.