Mirchpur violence: Jats demand SIT probe

Jind, Jan 23 (ANI): Members of the pre-dominant Jat community staged a protest here on Sunday demand a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the Mirchpur caste violence last year in which an elderly Dalit man and his daughter were killed in an arson attack.

The protestors alleging that the state government had blamed innocent people for the deaths on hanging them, blocked a road and railway tracks with trees, thereby cutting off the area from the rest of the country.

"The government has arrested 103 of our brothers illegally. They are being harassed and government is bent upon hanging them. Our demand is that the state government should inquire into this case by a state agency, either by a special investigation team or by a retired IPS officer. The government should immediately release our brothers implicated in the Mirchpur killing case," said Sandeep Choudhary, a protester.

It has been reported that around ten companies of central paramilitary forces have been sent to the region to contain the agitation.

Mirchpur village in Hisar district hit the headlines last year when the dominant upper caste Jat members set fire to a row of houses of the Dalit (Balmiki) families April 21 last year.

A 70-year-old man and his 18-year-old physically challenged daughter were killed in the fire in their home and at least 18 houses were destroyed in the attack. (ANI)