Rioters to pay price for vandalising public property, declares Uttarakhand CM Dhami

Dehradun: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on Monday that miscreants and rioters will be made to pay a heavy price for instigating violence and vandalising public property.

The state government, in a cabinet meeting, approved the setting up of a Special Claims Tribunal with the aim to penalize and punish the perpetrators of violence and also to tighten the noose around those who incite public unrest at such occasions.

The initiative to deter such offenders comes almost a month after Haldwani was rocked by series of violent incidents including stone pelting, torching of vehicles and also burning of police stations. The violence was apparently fanned by a mob, angered over demolition of an illegal madrasa in Banbhoolpura.

The Chief Minister, briefing reporters after the cabinet meeting, said that those who disturb the peace in the state will have to pay for it now.

“The compensation for the damage to public property caused during the riots will be recovered from the rioters themselves. Those who disturb the peace will have to pay a heavy price and the state will set an example which will be remembered for years by the generations of rioters who tarnished the sacred land of Devbhoomi," said CM Dhami.

Till date, there was no law in the state to extract monetary compensation from the rioters. The Special Claims Tribunal will fill this gap and set a new precedent in deterring the perpetrators from taking the law into their hands.

The Claims Tribunal constituted by the District Magistrate will assess the loss through the Court Commissioner, after which recovery will be made from the rioters, as per the law.