Three persons were killed and nine others injured as the Army opened fire to control stone-pelting protesters who had blocked the National Highway-1 at Larsoli village between Murthal and Gannaur today.
Deputy Commissioner Rajiv Rattan neither confirmed nor denied the number of deaths.
The injured have been admitted to BPS Women Medical College Hospital at Khanpur Kalan. The mob is learnt to have attacked personnel of Army and paramilitary forces, leading to a clash in which there were some “casualties”, said an official. The protesters torched around 70 vehicles, including the vehicle of Gannaur SDM, 12 trucks and three private buses.
The NH-1 was opened for traffic around 6.15 pm, giving relief to thousands of commuters who were stranded at various places.
Sources said the security personnel had to again use force to remove the protesters who had blocked the GT Road near Hasanpur, Kumaspur and Beeswan Meel villages. One youth was reportedly injured in the incident.
There was tension in the entire area, but efforts were being made to bring the situation under control, he said. The latest incident came within hours after two columns of the Army comprising around 150 personnel, besides CRPF and Haryana Police contingents took control of the Munak canal at around 4 AM today from protesters had cut off the water supply to Delhi, from Akbarpur-Barota in Sonepat. Sonepat, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Bhiwani and Hisar have been the worst-hit districts of the ongoing Jat stir.
The protesters continued to block some roads including the arterial Delhi-Ambala highway, demanding a written assurance that the community will be given reservation in the state.
Meanwhile, one more casualty was reported at Safidon in Jind district late on Sunday. The deceased has been identified as Naveen Kumar, a resident of Safidon town. He had received major injuries in the clashes with security forces in the evening.
