Haryana Police on Tuesday arrested 12 Kanwarias (worshippers of Lord Shiva), who were protesting after a speeding truck ran over two Kanwarias near here.
Manesar (Haryana), Aug.7 : Haryana Police on Tuesday arrested 12 Kanwarias (worshippers of Lord Shiva), who were protesting after a speeding truck ran over two Kanwarias near here.
The police had to resort to baton charge the protestors, who went on a rampage after the mishap.
At least seven vehicles were set on fire, including the car of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters, Gurgaon), two Haryana Roadways buses and the truck which hit the victims.
The protestors blocked the National Highway Eight, which links Delhi to Haryana, Rajasthan and beyond, causing a massive traffic jam on the route with vehicles lined up for nearly 25 kms.
The deceased have been identified as Krishna Kumar and Lilu, both residents of Bhagola in Rajasthan, police said, adding that the truck driver had fled from the accident spot.
In yet another case, pilgrims went on a rampage in Uttar Pradesh, ransacking a police station and burning trucks, after three pilgrims were run over.
According to eyewitnesses, three Kanwarias died when a vehicle lost control.
"The rest of the Kanwarias went to a neighbouring police station and asked police to arrest the driver and then started protesting," said Aslam, an eyewitness.
S. N. Sabat, Deputy Inspector General, Mirzapur Range, said the police were forced to open fire to control the situation.
"Some of the angry pilgrims pelted stones. So to bring the situation under control we were forced to open fire," he said.
Police officials refused to confirm any casualties, but said they came to know about the death of one person from the eyewitnesses.
The monsoon months of July and August are an auspicious time as per the Hindu calendar. In the northern States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Bihar, hundreds of thousands of saffron-clad pilgrims carry water collected from the Ganga in Haridwar, Gangotri or Gaumukh (the glacier from where the Ganga originates) in Uttaranchal, and return to their hometowns to consecrate the Shiva lingams as a gesture of thanksgiving. These pilgrims are known in the colloqial language as Kanwarias.
The Haridwar-Delhi Highway is the most choked during these months with a steady flow of kanwarias (so called because they carry a kanwar or pole on their shoulder with the covered water pots balanced on its two ends), several of them footslogging, some riding bicycles or bikes and some travelling on trucks and vans and even bullock carts.
The 250-km-long route reverberates with the high decibel Lord Shiva-related chants of "Bol Bam" and "Har Har Mahadev". Loudspeakers on the roadsides and those fitted to the vehicles blare out bhajans, some set to the tune of raunchy Hindi film songs. The frenzy of the kanwarias knows no bounds; they do a jig to keep the mela mood going even as entranced older pilgrims quietly utter their prayers as they continue the trek.
ANI