Stand-off between Raj, Hry police at Manesar resort
A five-member special police team from Jaipur was surrounded by dozens of Haryana police personnel outside a luxury resort in Nuh on Friday, a rare stand-off between police departments of two states that took place as fallout of the political battle playing out in Rajasthan.
A special operations group (SOG) squad had arrived from Jaipur on Friday evening when they were surrounded by their Haryana counterparts while still in their white SUV.
They were attempting to enter the ITC Grand Bharat resort where several MLAs from Rajasthan have gathered as part of a rebellion of former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot.
The team, which arrived to question one of the MLAs in connection with an audio recording that suggested a possible attempt to break the government in the state, was initially stopped for around one-and-ahalf hours before it was allowed to enter the resort.
“None of the MLAs were there. We searched the entire resort but failed to find them,” said an SOG officer, who asked not to be named. Another Rajasthan police official said that the MLAs were shifted to another hotel in Gurugram, about eight kms from ITC Grand Bharat.
The Rajasthan police team almost entered the premises since most of the cops deployed by Nuh police retreated to their buses around 200 metres from the hotel entry. But as the Rajasthan squad arrived, a large posse of Nuh police reached the gate and formed a ring outside the hotel.
The police team was asked to stay outside the hotel premises and wait for permission but it was only after Inspector Jitender Kumar, SHO, Tauru police station intervened and asked the cops from neighbouring states to retreat that they moved.
Jitender Kumar, SHO, Tauru police station said that they had no role in stopping the police team and it was the hotel staff that had checked their documents and asked them to wait before entry.
“We have nothing to do with their entry,” he said.
“We came to know at the spot that a team from Rajasthan had come to investigate a matter but the local police had no information in this regard. We did not stop anyone from entering the hotel and later the police team was allowed entry by the management,” said Narender Bijraniya, SP, Nuh.
Hotel officials deployed at the spot when asked about the issue said that the police team did not have permission to enter the resort.
A senior ITC Hotels executive did not respond to requests for a comment on the incident.