New Delhi: Congress MLA Mamman Khan has been arrested in the Nuh violence case early on Friday (September 15).
Six people were killed and dozens injured during communal violence in Nuh on July 31, when the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal took out a ‘Shobha Yatra’ in Muslim-majority areas.
Khan will be produced in court later today, The Indian Express reported, where the Haryana SIT probing the violence will seeking custody to conduct interrogations. Mamman has said that he is being falsely implicated in the case, as he was not even in Nuh on the day the violence broke out.
The MLA from Ferozepur Jhirka had approached the Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday, seeking protection from arrest. The hearing had been set for October 19, India Today reported.
The state counsel told the court, “In FIR No.149 dated August 1, 2023 registered under Sections 148, 149, 153-A, 379-A, 436, 506 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 at Police Station Nagina, District Nuh, Haryana; there are 52 accused persons out of which 42 persons have been arrested. One Taufiq, who is also an accused in the FIR was arrested on August 9th and Taufiq named Mamman Khan as one of the accused in this case. Thereafter, due investigation was conducted and the call details from the mobile phones and tower location of Taufiq and Mamman Khan were examined and it was found that calls were exchanged on July 29th and 30th – one day before July 31st when the Nuh violence took place. As per the tower location, Mamman Khan was within an area of 1.5 km from the place of occurrence on July 29th and 30th and thus, the averments to the effect that that he was not close to the place of the occurrence in the petition is not correct. Statements of Security Officers of the petitioner i.e., Constable Jai Prakash and Constable Pradeep have also been recorded under Section 161 Cr.P.C. and the said two police officials have also confirmed the fact with respect to the presence of Mamman Khan being within a range of 1.5 km from the place of occurrence on July 29th and 30th. Also, Mamman Khan had posted on Whatsapp as well as on Facebook on July 30th that ‘Nobody needs to worry as the petitioner had fought for them in the Vidhan Sabha and will fight for them in Mewat also.’ It is further submitted that one Abdulla Khan is also an accused who is yet to be arrested and even in one of his posts, he had mentioned “Engineer Mamman Khan MLA Mission complete”.”
The police also stated that Khan had been asked to join the investigation on August 25, and on August 31 he had asked for ten days’ time as he was not feeling well. However, the police claimed, he did not join after that either.
Khan’s lawyer, however, said that the MLA had not been told that he was named as an accused in the FIR. The counsel told the court that “the fact that the petitioner has been nominated as an accused in the FIR has been made known to the petitioner today itself, thus, the petitioner be given liberty to seek appropriate remedy for protection of liberty”.