New Delhi: In clashes on Monday between Hindus and Muslims in India's Haryana state, which is next to the capital New Delhi, at least five people were killed, including two police officers, according to police officials.
A Hindu religious procession that was travelling through the Muslim-dominated Nuh region, about 50 kilometres from New Delhi, caused violence to break out.
"The procession was meant to move from one temple to another but clashes broke out between two groups on the way, which resulted in the death of four people," Krishan Kumar, a spokesman for the Nuh police, told Reuters.
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Two of the dead, according to him, were home guard volunteers who aid police in quelling public disturbances. He added that the clashes also resulted in 10 more police officers being hurt.
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By Monday night, however, the unrest had spread to the nearby city of Gurugram, where a mosque was set on fire at midnight, leaving one person dead and another injured. A business hub for the nation, Gurugram, formerly known as Gurgaon, shares a border with New Delhi and is home to a number of multinational corporations.
Following some car fires on Monday night, prohibition orders had already been issued for the area, and Tuesday was designated as a closed day for schools and colleges.
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The attackers who set the mosque on fire have been identified, and several of them have been apprehended, according to a statement released by Gurgaon Police early on Tuesday. Security around houses of worship has also been tightened, the statement added.
Manohar Lal Khattar, the chief minister of Haryana, denounced the incident in Nuh, where curfew restrictions have been put in place and the Internet has been cut off, in a post on messaging service X, formerly known as Twitter. "The guilty will not be spared at any cost, strictest action will be taken against them," he declared.