New Delhi, Feb 16 (PTI) A civil rights groups-led fact-finding team has claimed that the violent clashes that shook Haldwani on February 8 was not an isolated incident but rather the culmination of escalating communal tensions fuelled by divisive rhetoric and policies.
Violence broke out on February 8 over the demolition of an illegally built madrassa in the Banbhoolpura area, with locals hurling stones and petrol bombs at municipal workers and police, forcing many police personnel to seek refuge at a police station, which the mob then set on fire.
In the clashes, six “rioters” were killed and more than a 100, including police personnel and mediapersons, were injured, according to the police.
