DEHRADUN: In a step aimed at deterring rioters, the Uttarakhand government on Monday said such offenders would have to pay for the damage they cause to public property.
This government decision comes nearly a month after incidents of stone pelting, arson and firing in Haldwani claimed six lives and left more than a hundred injured. A number of vehicles and a police station in the town’s Banbhoolpura area were set ablaze during the violence which broke out over the demolition of an illegal madrassa.
The state Cabinet gave its approval to bring an ordinance to set up a special claims tribunal which in case of riots and unrest, will recover the money for damage to public property from the rioters themselves.
Soon after chairing the Cabinet meeting where the decision was taken, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on X, “Those who disturb peace in the state to pay for it now”.
“The Cabinet has approved the constitution of a Special Tribunal during the Cabinet meeting today with the aim of strictly curbing cases of riots and unrest. The damage caused to public property during the riots will be recovered from the rioters themselves,” he said.
“Those who disturb peace in the state will have to pay a heavy price now. It will set an example which will be remembered for years by generations of rioters who tarnished the sacred land of Devbhoomi,” Dhami said.
Uttarakhand Police on Friday arrested five women in connection with the recent Haldwani violence in the town’s Banbhoolpura area over the demolition of an illegal madrassa, officials said.
This takes the total arrests in connection with the February 8 incidents of stone pelting, arson and firing in Banbhoolpura to 89, Nainital Senior Superintendent of Police Prahlad Narayan Meena said.
The five women arrested on Friday are Shahnaz, Soni, Shamsheer, Salma and Reshma, the SSP said, adding that they all are residents of the Banbhoolpura area.
Violence in Haldwani had left six persons dead and more than a 100, including police personnel and journalists, injured, the police had said earlier. The rioters had indulged in stone pelting and arson. They had set a number of vehicles and the Banbhoolpura Police Station on fire.
Haldwani violence mastermind Abdul Malik was arrested on February 24 and his son Abdul Moid five days later.