Haryana: 11 injured after brawl over cricket; Family of injured claims 'communal attack'

Gurugram, Mar 23: In what appears to be a communal clash, eleven persons of a family were injured in a brawl in the village near Bhondsi, Haryana. The incident, in connection with which at least 15 people were booked and one was arrested, is said to have taken place on Thursday, the day of Holi, said reports.

Some children were playing cricket when a group of men, around 15 in number, came and asked the kids not to play. The family of the injured people has claimed that it was a planned attack by a group of people backed by a Hindutva outfit, said a News 18 report.

"We were making food for some guests when suddenly they entered our home. They beat me up with sticks when I tried to stop them. I asked them what has happened. But they said "aaj in mulloh ko chodna nahi". They went upstairs, broke windows and doors and thrashed them brutally," ANI quoted Samira, a member of the family that was attacked as saying.

The video of the incident was shared on the social media. Some are dubbing the incidents a communal one, but the police has denied it so far.

Reports quote cops as saying that the entire incident started as "a minor argument" between two groups of people over playing cricket which eventually led to violence.

"Two men from another group came on a motorcycle and expressed their desire to play with them, but their offer was refused. Due to the tension over the refusal to allow them to play cricket, a minor scuffle ensued, in which one person was beaten up and sustained at least 15 stitches. The injured person then contacted his friends and to take revenge for the alleged assault, the suspects attacked the members of the other group, who, by then, had taken refuge in the house," an HT report quoted Dinesh Kumar, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Sohna, as saying.

The house of the family which was attacked has been vandalised. The probe into the incident is underway. At least 15 people have been booked and one has been arrested. Some of the attackers were also in inebriated state. The injured persons have been discharged from the hospital.