Chandigarh/Gurugram: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday ordered a halt to the demolition drive in violence-hit Nuh and asked if it was an "exercise of ethnic cleansing".

In Gurugram, a group of unidentified men allegedly started a fire in a mazar at a village in the early hours of Monday.

The court of Justices G S Sandhawalia and Harpreet Kaur Jeevan took suo motu cognisance of the drive in Nuh and directed the Haryana government not to carry out any further demolition.

“Apparently, without any demolition orders and notices, the law and order problem is being used as a ruse to bring down buildings without following the procedure established by law," the court said.

"The issue also arises whether the buildings belonging to a particular community are being brought down under the guise of law and order problem and an exercise of ethnic cleansing is being conducted by the State,” said the court.

The court also issued a notice of motion to the Haryana government which was accepted by Advocate General B R Mahajan. The matter has been fixed for hearing on August 11.

Several "illegally-constructed" structures have been razed by the authorities in Nuh in the past few days. Officials had said some of the buildings were used by rioters when a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession was targeted by a stone-pelting mob on July 31. It led to communal clashes that spread to Gurugram.

Six people, including two home guards and a cleric, were killed in the violence.

In the early hours of Monday, some prayer material at the mazar, visited both by Muslims and Hindus in Gurugram's Khandsa village, was burnt in the fire, said the shrine's caretaker Ghasite Ram.

According to a complaint filed by Ram at Sector 37 police station, he received a phone call around 1.30 am about a fire in the shrine. He said the fire was brought under control with the help of local people.

Ram said he learnt that a group of five-six young boys gathered there and started the fire.

Police said they have detained three men in connection with the incident.

The small shrine also has pictures of Hindu deities on the inner walls along with the tomb of a "peer baba". On the outer wall also, there are picture of a Hindu deity, and the Om and Swastik symbols.

Ram told PTI on Monday morning, "This is a decades-old mazar of 'peer baba' and all villagers offer prayers here."

Police have lodged an FIR in the case against unidentified persons under relevant sections of IPC, including Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups).

The incident happened when prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC were still in force in Gurugram. The Gurugram district administration lifted Section 144, which prohibited an assembly of four or more persons at a time, on Monday.

Nuh Deputy Commissioner Dhirender Khargata said the demolition drive in the district has been stopped following the orders of the court.

"I have ordered the officials to stop the drive against the illegal construction," he said.

In the last three days, illegal constructions have been removed from 57.5 acres of land at 37 places in the district.

As many as 162 permanent and 591 raw structures have been demolished in the district till Monday, officials said.

Curfew was relaxed for four hours in Nuh on Monday, police said, adding nine more accused were arrested.

A special drone survey was also conducted in the area near Nalhar Shiv temple by police. “So far, 56 FIRs have been registered in connection with the attack on a religious procession in Nuh and a total of 156 people arrested. Fifteen accused were produced in a city court today which sent them to judicial custody,” said a spokesperson of Nuh police.

According to an official statement by the district administration, banks and ATMs remained open in the district from 10 am to 2 pm during the relaxation of curfew.

The officials said banks will remain open in municipal corporation areas in Nuh from 10 am to 3 pm on Tuesday. The state bus service will also be restored in the district from Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a committee formed after a "mahapanchayat" at Tigra village in Gurugram on Monday demanded the formation of an SIT for a "fair investigation" into the killing of the Muslim cleric, claiming that some youths from the village were made scapegoats for the attack.

In a memorandum to the deputy commissioner and the police commissioner, the committee also sought an investigation into the "reasons" for the attack on the mosque.

At least four villagers were arrested after the Anjuman Masjid in Sector 57 of Gurugram was attacked by a mob in the early hours of August 1, hours after the VHP procession was attacked in adjoining Nuh district. The mahapanchayat was held to protest the arrests.

"The police have no direct or indirect evidence against them and they were only made a scapegoat...," the memorandum read.

It further demanded that the investigation should be completed within a week and the four people "tortured and arrested" by police released.

Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav assured the committee that there will be an impartial inquiry into the matter. "Action will be taken only against those who are guilty, no innocent will be harassed unnecessarily," he told the committee members.

Police said an eatery (dhaba) near Rathiwas village in Gurugram was set on fire on Saturday night. They said an FIR was registered at the Bilaspur police station in the night itself.

They also said it arrested on Sunday night 15 people accused of violence in Sohna, who were sent to judicial custody by a court.

Meanwhile, the Haryana Congress said a delegation of senior leaders led by party's state unit chief Udai Bhan is likely to visit Nuh on Tuesday.

The party said the purpose of the visit is to re-establish peace and brotherhood in the area.

In Gurugram, three motorcycle-borne masked men pelted stones at a house, damaging its windowpanes, and fled, police said on Monday.

No one was injured in the attack on the house of Ishtiqar Ahmed in Devilal Colony, Sector 9 that took place on Sunday night.

Police did not immediately link the incident to the communal tension in Gurugram district.

PTI