Thaindian News

Hisar (Haryana), June 13 (IANS) At least nine people, including four policemen, were injured in a clash between protestors, including Dalits, and police personnel Monday, police said.

Following this, police arrested 12 people, including Ved Pal Tanwar, president of the Non-Jat Association (NJA) for breaching ban on any assembly of five or more people at the mini-secretariat complex here, an official said.

Led by Tanwar, the protestors, also including dozens of Dalits, were staging a protest outside the mini-secretariat complex. The protestors, who were agitating against local police for their intolerant attitude towards them, also included many women.

Hisar Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar Aggarwal told IANS that Tanwar and other protesters broke barricades, pelted stones and clashed with the police at the mini-secretariat complex here, 300 km from Chandigarh.

He said that one woman was injured in the incident and was taken to a nearby government hospital for treatment.

He said that orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) have been imposed near the mini-secretariat complex to prevent people from gathering there for a meeting called by Tanwar in support of non-Jats.

“The agitators were instigated by Tanwar and others to resort to violence against the police and to violate prohibitory orders. We had no option but to take action against them after they started the violence. Around nine people, including four police officials, have been injured in this clash,” Aggarwal said.

Tanwar earlier rallied in support of last year’s victims of the Mirchpur village violence in which houses of Dalit community members were set ablaze by the dominant Jat community members.

A 70-year-old man and his 18-year-old physically-challenged daughter were burnt alive in the fire and at least 18 houses were destroyed in the attack by dominant Jat community members.