On July 31, an Islamist mob pelted stones at Hindu Jalabhishek Yatra in Haryana’s Nuh district. The devotees gathered to attend the procession, which covered temples in the district. Many media reports have revealed that the attack was pre-planned, as the locals were angry over a cow vigilante joining the procession. Organiser also revealed the same through 15 FIRs lodged against Islamist mobs. In a recent update, the police arrested two suspects who allegedly hijacked a private bus and then drove it to ram the Cyber police station in Nuh. The station was targeted by the attackers as it had digital proof against the perpetrators.
Miscreants made a WhatsApp Group
Notably, the prime accused nabbed by the police has been identified as Waseem alias Teeta, who was an admin of a WhatsApp group — “011” — that has 60 members. This group was used to plan and launch the attack on Hindus during the procession.
It has been reported that Waseem, a native of Ferozpur Namak hired a bus to ferry rioters to Albert Square in Nuh, which was considered as the epicentre of the violence. The attackers rammed the bus into the wall of the police station and informed the cops.
Krishan Kumar, public relations officer of Nuh police, said Wasim had come to Nuh to meet his brother on August 30 when he got arrested.
“A crime branch team led by inspector Amit Kumar carried out the search and arrested him as soon he clandestinely reached his residence,” Kumar said.
The police station rammed by the attackers had raised questions about the motive of the attackers. As per the reports, the Cyber Police station had documents related to the arrest of 65 people in the state’s largest operation against Cyber frauds. The reports claimed that many of the documents relating to the fraud were burnt in this attack.
Waseem, the man under arrest told the police that, he and the group members had planned the attack in detail. The people in the bus who had come from Ferozpur Namak were well equipped with weapons, said the police.
A police officer said that “In the WhatsApp group “011” the attack was planned in detail. Other than the spots to be targeted the group members also made a list of people to be attacked in the region, the police is investigating his WhatsApp.”
How police caught Waseem?
“Wasim is a heavy vehicle driver by profession. He was the one who snatched the keys of the bus from its owner while the latter was trying to move it to a safe location from the bus stand on July 31 after violence broke out. After hijacking the bus, Wasim used it to move to multiple locations along with other suspects before finally targeting the cyber police station,” he said.
“After hiding at several places there, he managed to get a job as a truck driver and fled to Chennai. He stayed there for several days and later came to Panchkula before finally reaching Nuh on August 30,” he said.
Other than the WhatsApp group run by Waseem, the police said that they have as many as 20 such groups under their radar.
“Apart from the attack on the police station, Waseem was also named in FIRs related to violence at Jhanda Chowk, Adbar Chowk, and on the Nalhar Mandir Road,” said Inspector Amit, in-charge crime, Nuh.
Sahil nabbed for posing hate speech on social meida
Other than Waseem, the police arrested one Shahid (44) from the Meoli village for posing provocative content on social media. Shahid is accused of posting several posts listed as hate speech from his Facebook account.
Krishna Kumar, a spokesperson of the Nuh police station, “he goes by name Shahi on Facebook. On July 31, he posted several provocative videos and images from his account”.
Shahid is the second person to be nabbed for posting content on social media. As of now, as many as 314 people have been arrested related to the violence.
Nuh Violnce was pre-planned
As per the media reports, from July 21 to 23, miscreants held meetings in parts of the city to prepare for the attack. WhatsApp groups were formed to coordinate, people were designated leaders and assigned responsibilities, and stones were gathered and assembled.
The attackers also collected glass bottles of cold drinks and fuel to use them as petrol bombs. More than 200 motorcycles were marked for use, and their number plates were painted black so that they would not be identified by police in any footage.
Ahead of the procession, Islamists took shelter in the hills with weapons and stones. These miscreants stayed there the whole night near the Nalhar temple, the focal point of the procession.
