DAMAGE
Protesters either robbed or set ablaze car showrooms, shops, restaurants, hotels and hospitals in Rohtak town
Hardik Anand
MANOJ DHAKA/HTThe damaged cars after a showroom was set ablaze by protesters in Rohtak on Monday.ROHTAK: The pampered town of for mer chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is now in a state of complete mess, after many people allegedly set the city’s major buildings on fire on Sunday, causing a huge setback to the well-developed city.
The model town area, which used to be the shopping hub of the city and used to be house glossy showrooms and stores, now looks black after most showrooms were burnt.
At least 30 stores, including electronic stores, bookstores, garment units, restaurants, were burnt.
Two stores of Rohtak’s signature sweet shop Gulab Rewri were burnt. The agitators also reportedly burnt two private hospitals.
Besides restaurants, people burnt down hotels in the city. Hotel Rivoli, where legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and other cricketers stayed during Tendulkar’s last Ranji trophy match in Lahli village, was also targetted. Other hotels, including the three-star Hotel Viceroy, were robbed and destroyed.
All major eateries where a majority of the Rohtak residents would turn to, for a fancy evening, were set ablaze. This includes McDonalds, Pappu Bakery and Blueberry Cake Shop. All the alcohol shops were robbed and burnt.
All the major car showrooms in the city were destroyed. Protesters burnt Cheverlet’s showroom on Sonepat Road while some robbed cars and burnt them on the road. Hyundai’s showroom on Jind Bypass was burnt with more than a dozen cars being destroyed. At the Toyota showroom, agitators burnt an Innova while destroyed three other cars and a motorcycle. Protestors wrecked more than 50 computers, among other furniture in the showroom. The newly-built showroom of Maruti Suzuki Nexta was burnt; the losses are yet to be ascertained. At the Honda showroom on Hisar road, the agitators destroyed four cars while burnt a motorcycle.
Vice-president of LPS Bossard, who also owned the franchisee of Honda showroom, Nikhlesh Jain, said, “My family in Delhi wants us to shift the business out of this city. The destruction happened while the police and the government did nothing. I have no hopes that the government will help us in any way.”
Rohtak’s Industrial Model Town (IMT), where Hooda had pushed for the setting up of many industries, was affected during the stir.
Sources said one of the subsidiaries of Asian Paints in the town was burnt. The industrial town had already drawn flak from industrial owners due to robberies.
This may further act as a barrier for other industries to set up their plants in Rohtak.
The only mall in the city, Merian Skytech Mall, in Sector 3 was robbed and burnt, so was the market in the Gandhi camp.
Non-Jat shop owners alleged they were specifically targetted by the Jats. Some said they were threatened by the agitators that their houses would be invaded at night. The markets belonging to Punjabis were attacked by the agitators. They robbed and burnt shops in Gandhi Camp, another Punjabi-dominated area.
At Quilla road, where protestors burnt two shops, Punjabi shopkeepers had joined hands to protect their shops. The agitators also attacked the stores and hotels of Baniyas and Sainis. Residents of Sector 1 said they heard agitators mob deciding not to burn the Mahindra car showroom on the Delhi bypass as it belonged to a Jat.
Curfew clamped on Hisar town, five villages after fresh violent protests
HISAR: Curfew was imposed in Hisar town and five villages of Hansi sub-division of the district and shoot-on-sight orders issued after Jat protesters indulged in violent protests in the area on Monday.
HT/PHOTOSecurity personnel patrolling the streets of Rohtak town where a large number of shops and other private properties were damaged by Jat protesters.More than 150 protesters with covered faces turned up at the Red Square market at Hisar town at about 5.30pm and went on a rampage. They vandalised many shops in market, following which most of the shopkeepers downed their shutters. The youths fled the spot only after army and police personnel reached the spot to control the situation.
Deputy commissioner (DC) Hisar Chander Shekhar Khare ordered curfew in Hisar town and 5 villages of Hansi sub-division where Jat protesters had a face-off with members of other communities.
A large number of Jat protesters, carrying lathis and hockey sticks, entered Sisaya, Baulan, Kalirawan, Sainipura and Dhani Pal villages to attack non-Jats in the area. Besides, heavy police force the army was called in to control the situation. The DC also ordered ‘shoot-at- sight’ orders in these areas.
RAIL, ROAD TRAFFIC REMAINS SUSPENDED
Meanwhile, road traffic on various national and state highways from Hisar to various destinations, including Delhi, Chandigarh, Sirsa, Siwani and Bhiwani is disrupted. Railway traffic from Hisar to various destinations including Delhi, Ludhiana, Bhiwani and Sadulpur also remained suspended.
All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti spokesman Ram Bhagat Malik said, “We have decided to take-back our stir from Ramayan and Mayyar villages after we came to know that protesters are lifting their dharnas at Rohtak and Sampla. We will lift our blockades by tomorrow morning.”
He added, “No Jat youths are now creating problems for anyone in Hisar. We don’t know which community indulged in rampage in Hisar city and Hansi villages.”
FLAG MARCH IN FATEHABAD, HISAR
Army and police personnel took out a flag march in Hisar town and Fatehabad to maintain the law and order situation. Fatehabad assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Gangaram Punia said, “We took out a flag march on Sirsa-Hisar road, old bus stand, Lal Batti Chowk, MM college road and Ratia chungi areas.”
PEACE MARCH BY ‘36 BIRADARI’
The district administration formed a Chattis Biradari (36 communities) team, which took out a peace march in Fatehabad city.
Sikh volunteers run 24-hour langar for stranded
KARNAL: As thousands of people were left stranded on the Delhi-Ambala national highway (NH-1) by road blockades put by Jat protesters for two days, city residents responded with overwhelming generosity, offering them food and shelter.
RAVI KUMAR/HTPeople walking during a blockade by Jat protesters at Ladsoli village in Sonepat district on Monday.But an impromptu gesture by dozens of teams of Sikh volunteers who ran a round-the-clock community kitchen (langar) stood out.
Sikh youths car ted free snacks, cooked rice and hot tea in copious quantities to feed stranded travellers, including a team of HT journalists.
“Sanu taan sangatan di seva da chauv hai ji (we derive pleasure out of serving humanity,” gurdwara head Baba Joga Singh said, adding that people of all ages, castes and religions were welcome to partake of tea and meals.
The gurdwara volunteers laughed away questions on the quantity of food and other eatables used in the langar over the past two days.
“I would not know how many quintals,’’ the gurdwara head said with a smile.
Other volunteers, including Joginder Singh and Sardul Singh, recalled how Baba Joga Singh politely convinced the police who initially objected to the long queues of vehicles around the gurdwara.
“We have been offering roundthe-clock langar in the memory of Mata Sahib Dev Kaur here for three decades and our volunteers come in large numbers whenever such situations arise,’’ the gurdwara head said.