1,208 structures razed, mostly of 1 community

NUH: One district. 11 towns and hamlets. Five days. 1,208 buildings and other structures overwhelmingly Muslim-owned 37 sites. 72.1 acres

- Leena Dhankhar

That's the demolition track record of the Haryana government in Nuh district following communal violence in the region in which six people were killed and 88 injured.

The numbers, separately confirmed by two people with direct knowledge of the matter, with a random sampling cross-checked by HT's reporters through field visits in every location we visited, the property was found to be owned by Muslims would likely have been higher if not for the Punjab & Haryana high court's intervention on August 7. The court asked the state if it was indulging in "ethnic cleansing" given the one-sidedness of the demolitions before staying them.

According to official data, the demolished properties were spread across the cities and villages of Nuh, Nalhar, Punhana, Tauru, Nangal Mubarakpur, Shahpur, Aagon, Adbar Chowk, Nalhar Road, Tiranga Chowk and Nagina. It was among the largest demolitions the region has seen.

Jawahar Yadav, officer on special duty (OSD) to Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, said that officials from the town and country planning department, Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), police department, forest department and local panchayats were involved in identifying the properties that needed to be demolished.

"A meeting was held on August 1 and records were scanned by each official from their areas and based on the statements of the suspects involved in the violence, the drive was carried out. The houses razed were of all those who were either arrested or identified or were illegal establishments," he said.

Yadav said they had taken legal opinions and checked all the records before they started the drive to ensure all rules were followed. He insisted that a notice was given on June 30, although this would mean that this was done before the committee he spoke of met on August 1.