Death toll in Haldwani violence rises to 6; six more held

The death toll in the Haldwani violence rose to six, after a 50-year-old resident, Mohd Israr, succumbed to bullet injuries

The death toll in the Haldwani violence rose to six on February 13, after a 50-year-old resident, Mohd Israr, succumbed to bullet injuries.

Five were killed and 14 critically injured in violent clashes broke out in Banbhooplpura area of Haldwani on February 8, during the demolition of a madrasa and mosque in an anti-encroachment drive by the Nainital district administration.

Also read | Five arrested over Haldwani clashes; officials under fire for ignoring alerts

Six more people were arrested on Tuesday in connection with the violence, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Prahlad Narayan Meena told The Hindu. We have also recovered two country-made pistols from the accused, along with live bullets. The arrests were made on the basis of CCTV footages gathered from the violence site,” said Mr. Meena.

With the six new arrests, 36 persons have been arrested in connection with the violence so far. Police said that over 100 policemen were injured in Thursday’s violence. Three separate FIRs were lodged in the violence in which 5,000 unidentified persons were booked. On Thursday, miscreants gheraoed a police station, threw stones at officials, torched vehicles and public property after which shoot-at-sight orders were issued and curfew was imposed in the town.

Suhail, son of Mohd Israr who died on Tuesday, told The Hindu that a bullet had hit his father’s skull and he was in coma since then. Israr’s brother and 16-year-old nephew had died the day the violence broke out.

“Three people in our family died in that violence in which we had no role to play. This is so unfortunate that poor and innocent pay the price in such situations,” said Mohd Suhail, elder son of Mohd Israr.