The Hindu : Front Page : Violence erupts in Gurgaon again

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 27, 2005

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Violence erupts in Gurgaon again

Special Correspondent

Rumours of missing Honda workers spark unrest; clashes outside hospital

ANGER TO THE FORE: Birmati, sister of a victim of the Haryana police action on Monday, hurls the cap of a policeman outside the Gurgaon hospital on Tuesday. Birmati said her brother Kushi Ram was injured in the lathicharge on Honda workers and is now missing. — Photo: AP

GURGAON: For the second day on Tuesday this city witnessed a violent standoff as the police resorted to a lathicharge and fired dozens of rounds of teargas to disperse mobs outside the Civil Hospital here. They were protesting the police action against employees of Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (Private) Limited.

The irate crowds damaged two scooters and a police vehicle and manhandled Deputy Commissioner Sudheer Rajpal in the morning.

Trouble started when rumours spread that dozens of the injured, who were admitted to the hospital on Monday night, were missing and were believed to have been killed and their bodies disposed of by the police. Crowds gathered outside the hospital just before noon and demanded that Gurgaon authorities account for the 550 persons who were admitted there. They sought the release of 61 employees and better treatment to the injured.

The hospital authorities claimed that while most of the injured were discharged after treatment, many left on their own. About a dozen persons, including policemen, were injured in the violence on Tuesday.

While the situation elsewhere in Gurgaon was peaceful, all action was concentrated outside the Civil Hospital. The first round of teargassing took place around 12.30 p.m. soon after the crowds entered the hospital looking for the injured. They manhandled the Deputy Commissioner.

Heavy stone throwing by the angry crowds preceded the second round of teargassing. Several people were injured when the police chased away the agitators.

The Additional Director-General (Law and Order) and the Inspector-General (Gurgaon range), Deepa Mehta, were supervising law and order.

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