Protesters clash with police in Haryana towns

By IANS

Chandigarh : Tension prevailed in several Haryana towns Wednesday following clashes between members of the Valmiki community and the police.


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The clashes followed a shutdown call by the Valmiki community to protest the killing of a youth, Rakesh alias Lara, by three unidentified assailants at the Samata Chowk in Gohana town of Sonepat district Monday night.

On Wednesday police had to resort to cane charges at Yamunanagar and Bhiwani towns in the state to control protestors. In Yamunanagar, the protestors damaged several vehicles.

Angry mobs also took to the streets in Karnal and Panchkula to protest the killing.

Clashes between the police and those protesting Lara’s killing had taken place in Gohana town Tuesday. Several people were injured. A 60-year-old man was killed when a vehicle hit him while the police were chasing protestors.

Lara, from the Valmiki community, was one of the accused in the August 2005 murder of a Jat youth Baljit Siwaich. The killing then had led to violence against the Valmikis after miscreants set on fire nearly 100 houses belonging to the community.

The Haryana government had handed over the probe into both the incidents to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as violence between the two communities spread to other parts of the state. Lara was later acquitted of murder charges by a CBI court.

Senior police officials here claimed Wednesday that the situation was under control in the state though some untoward incidents were reported.

The police held meetings with leaders of the Valmiki and Jat communities at various places to prevent any community-based clashes.

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