Himalayan News Service

Gurgaon, July 26:

This industrial town was on the boil again today as irate mobs — mostly relatives of hundreds of workers beaten up a day earlier — roughed up senior officials, prompting police to use tear gas to disperse them, even as political outrage forced the Haryana state government to order a judicial probe into alleged police brutality. Women could be seen crying desperately and pleading for some information on “missing workers”, while men shouted slogans against the police action in this town, around 32 km from Delhi. Confusion, fear and anger reigned

as hundreds of relatives and friends of those injured in yesterday’s violence — between protesting workers of Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt Ltd. and police — lost their

cool and began pelting police personnel in front of the Gurgaon Civil Hospital with stones.

The situation went out of control when one woman rushed towards the policemen at the entrance of the hospital demanding the whereabouts of her brother, who she claimed was missing after the clashes.

She was soon followed by a large group of people who began attacking the policemen posted there. Police threw a cordon around the hospital and used tear gas to disperse the irate crowd. Even the media, especially cameramen of various television news channels, were subjected to force. Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Sudheer Rajpal was roughed up by angry people at the hospital after he visited the injured and spoke to the media. He said: “They (the protesting workers) had huge wooden sticks, lathis (batons) and iron rods with them. It was clear that they were not there to discuss a compromise. “The way they went about repeatedly attacking the police, destroying public property, vehicles and cars, we were left with no other option but to charge,” he said. But barely had he finished speaking when scores of men and women surrounded Rajpal and other administrative officials and manhandled them. Caught in the middle of the anger and confusion were Communist Party of India-Marxist leaders Brinda Karat and Nilotpal Basu, who were present at the venue to take stock of the situation. “Criminal procedures should be initiated against those responsible (for

the incident). The state government is responsible for whatever happened,” Karat said.

“People have not voted for the police or the district administration. They have voted for the government. They should be answerable,” she said. Finally, tempers were cooled after the intervention of several administrative officials.

NHRC demands CBI probe

NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday recommended a probe, preferably by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), into clashes between workers and police in Gurgaon that led to hundreds being injured and several going missing. “The NHRC strongly recommended (to) the Haryana government to take effective steps to get an independent investigation preferably by the CBI commenced into the reported brutal assault by the Haryana police on workers of the Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India Pvt Ltd,” the NHRC said on Tuesday. — HNS

Walkout by oppn, Left

NEW DELHI: The opposition and Left parties on Tuesday staged a walkout in parliament, dissatisfied with Home Minister Shivraj Patil’s statement on clashes between police and protesting workers that left hundreds injured in the suburban town of Gurgaon. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led opposition fumed against Patil for not ordering a judicial inquiry into the incident Monday even as demands for the dismissal of the Congress-led Haryana government echoed in both the houses. Left parties, though they support the government, also walked out demanding stronger action. — HNS