Chandigarh: Senior Congress leader and MLA Mamman Khan has been arrested in connection with the communal riots erupted in Nuh on July 31, 2023, police said on Friday.
The Ferozepur Jhirka legislator, who was named as an accused in an FIR lodge after the communal riots, was arrested late last night, according to news agency PTI. Khan however said he was not present in Nuh on the day violence broke out in the city.
Satish Kumar, Ferozepur Jhirkha Deputy Superintendent of Police and the head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the case and Deputy Leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the Haryana Assembly Aftab Ahmed, confirmed the arrest.
"The police have given information to us that he has been arrested," Aftab Ahmed said.
Mamman Khan was named an accused in an FIR lodged after the Nuh violence, the Haryana government had told the High Court Thursday. The police claimed that they have with them phone call records and other evidence to back the charges.
Haryana's Additional Advocate General Deepak Sabharwal told the High Court that Khan was named an accused on September 4 after the evidence against him was evaluated. There was "ample evidence" against him, he later told reporters on Thursday.
On the other hand, moved the Punjab abd Haryana High Court Tuesday, seeking protection from arrest while claiming that he was being framed in the case when he wasn't even in Nuh the day the violence broke out.
In his petition, Khan stated that he was at his Gurugram residence between July 26 to August 1 and did not go to the places where the violence had occurred.
The MLA's counsel told reporters after the hearing that Khan has only now come to know that he has been named in the FIR. The court had said Khan can seek appropriate remedy "for protection of liberty in accordance with law", the counsel had said.
Violence erupted in Nuh after stones were allegedly thrown on a procession led by the right wing Hindu outfit Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) in which its cadres were seen armed on July 31, 2023.
Six people were killed, most of them during the attack. A cleric died in an attack on a mosque in adjoining Gurugram.
Incidentally, Mamman Khan was vocal against Bajrang Dal member and self-proclaimed cow vigilante Monu Yadav or Monu Manesar, who is also accused of inciting violence in Nuh.
Monu Manesar is currently in the custody of Rajasthan police and being questioned over the killings of Junaid and Nasir by alleged cow vigilantes in Nuh.
In the Budget Session of the Haryana Assembly in February, soon after the killings of Junaid and Nasir – believed to be a flashpoint behind the recent violence – Mamman Khan had named Monu Manesar as among those responsible for the murders and demanded stern action against him, according to The Indian Express.
Haryana police however did not take any action against him. The police arrested him three days ago over "objectionable social media posts" and handed him to Rajasthan police.
It is said that with Monu Manesar's arrest, Haryana Police cleared ground to go after Congress MLA whom the ruling BJP accused of incendiary statements provoking the violence .
The police had earlier arrested cow vigilante Bittu Bajrangi in the same case. He was granted bail a local court on August 30, 2023.
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