Haldwani violence: U'khand police release photos of 9 ‘wanted’ rioters

Uttarakhand police on Friday released photos of nine rioters, accused of unleashing mayhem in Haldwani’s Banbhoolpura area over the demolition of an illegal madrasa earlier this month.

The state government, via its X handle, shared the photos of nine ‘wanted’ rioters who were allegedly part of the mob to inflict violence on police teams.

Nainital Police are on the lookout for these wanted criminals and have sought ‘information’ regarding them from the public.

“Whosoever gets to know about the whereabouts of these criminals can contact police stations and share information about them,” the government said, as it shared the contact details of many police stations.

To recall, the Banbhoolpura area of Haldwani witnessed bloody violence on February 8 after the police moved in to raze an illegally built madrasa, following court directions.

While the police appealed to the masses to maintain calm, a large mob gheraoed the police station and set it on fire. Many indulged in stone pelting while others hurled petrol bombs at cops, resulted in injuries to more than 100 police personnel, mediapersons as well as municipal corporation workers.

As the police teams, including women cops, came under attack, they took refuge in a police station but that was also set ablaze by the restive mob.

The Pushkar Singh Dhami-led state government was quick to take action against the rioters and vandals who attacked the police and burnt public property, including police vans. The Chief Minister, days after the violence, also announced setting up of a police station to ‘instill fear’ in the minds of the rioters.