Nuh: After Attacking Hindu Procession, Rioters Hijacked Public Bus And Broke Into Cyber Police Station To Wipe Out Criminal Records

After a Hindu procession was pelted with stones by the Muslim community in Haryana’s crime-infested district Nuh on 31 July and communal riots erupted, a group of rioters rammed a vehicle into a newly set up cyber police station.

The act of vandalism is being widely seen as an attempt to wipe out the criminal records.

Nuh, barely 100 kilometres from capital city New Delhi, is notorious for cyber frauds. A special police station to deal with the menace came up only two years ago.

The rioters allegedly took over a public bus and rammed it into the boundary wall of the structure. They entered it, and vandalised whatever was in sight. The mob also damaged cars parked inside the police station premises. An estimated 15 to 20 cars were damaged using bricks and rods.

The attackers also tried to burn the documents.  

Nuh, which is part of the larger Mewat region encompassing parts of Alwar and Bharatpur districts in adjoining Rajasthan, is dominated by the Meo jati, which claims to be a sub-group of Rajputs. The Meos, after whom the region gets its name, are today almost wholly Muslims, primarily under the influence of proselytising group Tablighi Jamaat. The district was called Mewat until 2016 when Haryana government changed it.

A 2018 report by NITI Aayog identified Nuh as India’s most backward district.

Nuh is increasingly becoming one of the biggest hotspots for cyber crimes in the country, be it putting fake ads for phones and motorcycles on OLX, scamming with fake links or sextortion scams.

In April, a large police force of 5,000 personnel raided 300 locations in 14 villages of Nuh to arrest 125 suspects of cyber crimes, busting a scamming network worth over Rs 100 crore. Forces were called in from at least 10 districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Bhiwani, Hisar, Panchkula, Rohtak, Sirsa, Jind, Ambala and Dari.

Khedla, where the recent rioting happened, was one of the 14 villages raided for cyber crimes. Police said probe into cyber crimes from other states led to Nuh as the origin point of these crimes. 

As per Home Ministry’s data, 54.1 per cent of all cyber crimes in the country originate from the areas encompassing the Mewat region.

As of June 2023, the cyber crime cell has blocked five lakh Sim cards being used in Mewat region for cyber fraud across the country.