By Ayush Tiwari
Two days after a mosque and madrasa were demolished in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, residents in Muslim neighbourhoods say a police crackdown has left them terrorised.
Residents of Banbhoolpura, where local people and the police clashed on February 8 after the demolition, told Scroll that police officials barged into their homes, assaulted family members, including women, vandalised property and detained several men.
“Police officials broke into our house around 4 pm [on Saturday],” said Shama, 38, a cook at a local school. “They thrashed our belongings and assaulted my husband and pushed us too. They took him away. We have no idea where or how he is.”
Shama’s husband, Naeem, 45, is a daily wager who transports sand to construction sites in Haldwani. “We told them that we have children, please leave us alone,” she said. “But one of the police officials said, ‘We have children too, then why did you throw stones at us?’”
“I just want to meet my husband,” said 22-year-old Mehreen, whose husband, Arif, 25, was taken away by four police officials around 5 pm on Saturday. The two had a love marriage seven months ago. “I will die without him.”
Uttarakhand director general of police Abhinav Kumar said: “We have no intention of acting against anyone without evidence.”
This story was originally published scroll.in. Read the full story here.