Army soldier killed by Kanwariyas

Haridwar, Jul 28: A day after the holy pilgrimage concluded, the Uttarakhand police said on Wednesday that they have arrested six people for allegedly beating to death army personnel who had come to Haridwar along with friends on the Kanwar Yatra.

 

 

 

According to police officials, Jat Regiment sepoy Kartik (25), a resident of Sisauli village in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district, had arrived on a motorcycle with a group of friends to fetch the holy Gangajal from Haridwar.

 

 

 

On Tuesday, they clashed with a group of kanwariyas from Haryana near the Nagla Imarti flyover after an altercation regarding overtaking of vehicles. “Both the groups had an argument leading to a violent clash. The Haryana-based kanwariyas attacked the devotees from Muzaffarnagar with sticks. leading to the death of the soldier. The Uttarakhand police have arrested six accused from Purkaji and also seized two trucks and seven motorcycles used by them for the pilgrimage,” Roorkee station house officer Devendra Singh Chauhan said. The Roorkee police have registered a case under section 304/34 of the Indian Penal Code against 15 accused, of which six – Sundar Bhaj (38), Rahul Singh (20), Sachin Pal (25), Akash (21), Pankaj Pal (22) and Rinku (24), all residents of Gan Chuklana, Sabhalakha in Haryana’s Panipat – have been arrested.

 

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The police are searching for the others at different locations in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana. All the accused fled after the violent act. The accused kanwariyas were brought to Purkaji police station by the Uttar Pradesh Police before cops from Uttarakhand arrested them.