Palwal violence: Punjab and Haryana HC seeks Haryana’s reply on constitution of SIT

However, the Haryana Police had taken a stand that no communal clash ever took place in the village. And that some miscreants engineered the unfortunate incident and projected it as a communal clash for their personal benefits. (Source: Express file photo)

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday directed the Haryana government’s counsel to take instructions on whether a Special Investigating Team (SIT) headed by Haryana Police Academy Director KK Sindhu could be constituted to probe the alleged incident of communal violence in Tikri Brahman village of Palwal district which broke out on July 5 last year .

The directions came after petitioners’ counsel proposed Sindhu’s name to investigate the case. However, the state government’s counsel has submitted that the probe could be handed over to the state crime branch which is a separate wing, to which the petitioners’ counsel raised an objection. The court was hearing a petition filed by five Muslim villagers seeking CBI probe into the incident and deployment of central security forces to defuse tension between the Hindus and Muslims in the village.

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The petitioners have alleged that the state police were carrying out “biased and partisan investigation” with the sole motive of “shielding the real culprits.” The court has been informed that the case details make it clear that none of the 17 houses which were set ablaze belong to the majority community.

However, the Haryana Police had taken a stand that no communal clash ever took place in the village. And that some miscreants engineered the unfortunate incident and projected it as a communal clash for their personal benefits. The police had informed the court that on the day of incident, 17 persons from both the sides were arrested and as many as 51 FIRs were registered . The case would now come up for hearing on April 22.