Communal clashes in India's Haryana kill at least five

AT LEAST five people, including two police personnel, were killed in clashes between Hindus and Muslims in India's Haryana state, neighbouring capital New Delhi, on Monday (31), police officials said.

The violence erupted when a Hindu religious procession passed through the Muslim dominated Nuh region, located around 50 kilometres away from New Delhi.

"The procession was meant to move from one temple to another but clashes broke out between two groups on the way, which resulted in the death of four people," said Krishan Kumar, spokesperson of Nuh police.

He said two of the dead were members of the home guard, a voluntary force that helps police control civil disturbances.

Another 10 police personnel were injured in the clashes, he added.

By Monday night, however, the violence spilled over into neighbouring Gurugram, where a mosque was torched around midnight, killing one person and injuring another.

Gurugram, formerly known as Gurgaon, shares a border with New Delhi and has emerged as a business hub for the country, housing several multinational companies.

Prohibitory orders had already been issued for the district after some cars were set on fire on Monday evening, and schools and colleges had been directed to remain closed on Tuesday (1).

"The attackers (who torched the mosque) have been identified and several of them have been rounded up," Gurgaon Police said in a statement on Tuesday morning, adding that security around places of worship had also been tightened.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, in a post on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, also condemned the incident in Nuh, where curfew orders have been imposed and the internet shut off.

"The guilty will not be spared at any cost, strictest action will be taken against them," he said.

(Reuters)