Curfew was on Tuesday clamped in Mayyar village and its surrounding areas in Hisar district after protesters seeking quota for Jat community went on a rampage, blocking roads, setting afire some buildings, looting trucks and clashing with security personnel. In view of the volatile situation, district authorities have sought the help of the Army, officials said, adding that additional police forces have been deployed in the violence-hit areas.
Hisar's deputy commissioner, Mr Yudhvir Khaliya, said the curfew had been clamped in
Mayyar and other sensitive villages to maintain law and order and help restore peace. The violence broke out in the areas yesterday during which one person was killed and several others injured as police opened fire on protesters. Activists of Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti, demanding quota for the community under the OBC category, blocked several roads in the district. Traffic on the Hisar-Delhi National Highway 10 was suspended. An unruly mob set on fire the State Bank of India branch at Hisar Cantt on Tuesday morning. They also set ablaze H.P. Cotton Mill here, besides torching two buses of the company. A Reliance petrol pump, which was lying closed, had also been damaged by
the mob here, police said. The protesters damaged a generator set at the Uklana railway
station and later set it on fire. They also thrashed the security personnel who tried to
stop them.
The mob also allegedly looted several trucks which were parked along side the roads.
A large number of people this morning blocked roads at the Surewala chowk. The
villagers also blocked roads in village Bithmara and Litany chowk on Hisar-Tohana road. Due to road blockage, the traffic remained affected in the region. Addressing a function at Hasanpur village in Sonepat yesterday, Samiti President, Mr Yash Pal Malik, had warned the Central and the State Governments that if its demand for quota was not met by October 3, the Samiti will intensify its agitation and block all the roads leading to Delhi. Malik said
that a number of communities, including Gujjars, Ahirs, Sainis and Kurmis, had been
included in the Central list of the OBCs, "but the Jats had been excluded".
He claimed that many states had included the Jats in their OBC list, but the Haryana
government and the Central government had failed to meet their demand.