The situation in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, is now under control, but the repercussions of the heinous act committed by the Islamist extremist mob will have to be endured by the people for several months. When the administration reached Banbhoolpura in Haldwani, Nainital, to remove illegal encroachments, the mob launched a vicious attack in which they also set the police station and petrol pumps on fire. Attempts were even made to burn police personnel alive.
During the rioting, people were beaten, and stone-pelting and firing took place. Even female police officers were not spared, it is said that their clothes were torn apart.
Now, a local journalist has revealed that the Islamist mob was targeting people after asking their names, and those with Muslim names were being spared and not subjected to violence. OpIndia spoke with Pankaj Saxena, a journalist from ‘HNN News’ who came to the hospital for treatment after suffering injuries during the violence. He explained that the mob was asking for names before launching an attack on them and those who were Muslim were being spared during the violence.
Saxena has fractures in his hands and feet. While his foot is plastered, his hand has been bandaged. He was injured in the violence that took place on 8th February 2024.
Saxena told OpIndia that as a journalist, he along with other media colleagues reached the spot to cover the administration team that had gone there to demolish the illegal madrasa-mosque. He said that there was already a planned conspiracy with 8-10 thousand people gathered there, who started pelting stones and throwing petrol bombs. Saxena added that in the evening, the electricity was cut off and stone pelting started again. He said it was a conspiracy to kill through petrol bombs. He stated that they got injured while fleeing.
"They asked our names. Those with Muslim names were allowed to go. "
— OpIndia.com (@OpIndia_com) February 12, 2024
Journalist who narrowly escaped the #HaldwaniMuslimMobAttack speaks to OpIndia's @STVRahul
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Saxena said that the rioters surrounded the victims by attacking from both sides. According to Pankaj Saxena, after surrounding the victims, the crowd started pelting stones from above. He confirmed that female police officers also faced misbehaviour. He had become unconscious during this time. He thanked the people of Gandhinagar for saving his life. They were the ones who rescued him and took him to the hospital. The people of Gandhinagar saved many policemen and media personnel and provided clothes to the female police officers.
Injured journalist Pankaj Saxena said that the government is funding his treatment. He mentioned that the rioters were asking for their names, many journalists were spared because they belonged to their community. The journalist mentioned that he also has an 8-year-old son, and if he had not been saved, only his dead body would have been found. He has difficulty walking and has to rely on someone to walk now.
