Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was today heckled and an angry crowd gheraoed his vehicle as he visited Jat dominated Rohtak district, the epicentre of the stir, even as he assured that strict action would be taken against who caused damage to public and private property.
As soon as he reached Rohtak, the Chief Minister's car was gheraoed by angry people who raised slogans like "Haryana Police murdabad" to protest the state police's alleged failure in controlling the violent situation.
Khattar was also shown black flags and was even heckled by the crowd. People also hooted against Khattar and demanded strict action against people who took the city to ransom.
Addressing the people demanding strict action against "looters", Khattar assured them that strictest action possible will be taken against those who set shops and commercial establishments on fire and caused damage to private property.
Rohtak, which was the epicenter of the Jat stir, saw massive damage to private property belonging to non-Jats.
In the city to review the situation, Khattar said the state government will give full compensation to those persons whose property was damaged during the Jat agitation.
He said the state government would also give jobs to affected families of those who are poor and economically backward.
The first time MLA said the state government would also take strict action against those officers be it from district administration or police department for dereliction in duty.
"State government will take action against those government and police officers who made any lapse in performing their duty," he further said.
He also assured the people that the government would take action against people who burnt shops and commercial establishments.
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Business community in Rohtak feels that though the Jat agitation was for reservation, the mobs had deliberately targeted non-Jats who have been happily living for centuries in the Jat-dominated district.
The mobs vandalised, looted or set on fire several shops and outlets including McDonald's, Chevrolet showroom, a mall, Hyundai showroom, Toyota showroom and Honda showroom and a famous sweet shop.
"We feel that mob has deliberately targeted shops and commercial establishments of non-Jat people of Rohtak," said Sudhir Gupta, owner of 'Gulab Rewri', a signature outlet of the district.
"We are now finding that angry mob caused maximum damage to property belonging to other castes," said Gupta, who belongs to 'Bania' community.
Suryansh Gupta, son of Sudhir, said, "the mob comprising 150 people first vanadalised the shop and then looted everything lying there including cash, sweets and other materials, chairs, tables at around 8:30 pm on February 19. They brought their own vehicles to take away things from the shop."
The next day in evening, the mobs again surfaced and this time, they set the shop on fire, said Suryansh, adding the projected loss could be about Rs 4 crore.
"We called up police to help us and even made calls to fire brigade to douse flames. But nobody turned up," said Sudhir, accusing the Rohtak district administration of complete failure in handling the situation and providing safety to private properties.
