Haldwani violence: Uttarakhand Police arrest five women

Uttarakhand Police on Friday arrested five women in connection with the recent Haldwani violence in the town's Banbhoolpura area over the demolition of an allegedly 'illegal' madrassa, officials said.

This takes the total arrests in connection with the 8 February incidents of stone pelting, arson and firing in Banbhoolpura to 89, Nainital senior superintendent of police Prahlad Narayan Meena said.

The five women arrested on Friday are Shahnaz, Soni, Shamsheer, Salma and Reshma, the SSP said, adding that they all are residents of the Banbhoolpura area.

Violence in Haldwani left six persons dead and more than 100, including police personnel and journalists, injured, the police had said earlier.

The rioters had indulged in stone-pelting and arson, setting a number of vehicles and the Banbhoolpura police station on fire. Abdul Malik, the alleged 'mastermind' behind the violence in Haldwani, was arrested on 24 February and his son Abdul Moid five days later.

Violence broke out on 8 February over the demolition of an "illegally" built madrassa in the Banbhoolpura area of Haldwani, with locals hurling stones and petrol bombs at municipal workers and police, forcing many police personnel to seek refuge inside a police station, which the mob then allegedly set on fire.