Amid Allegations Of Murder Of Devotees, Government Takes Charge Of ‘Chhota Haridwar’ In Ghaziabad

A popular pilgrim spot in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad district is at the centre of a full-blown controversy with allegations that rescue divers are drowning devotees taking a dip in the holy water. Around 10 such cases have been reported from the spot called ‘Chhota Haridwar’ or mini-Haridwar.

What is Chhota Haridwar?

A few years ago, work began on the banks of Upper Ganga Canal in Ghaziabad’s Murad Nagar where bathing ghats were constructed, temples were refurbished, shops were set up and boat rides were arranged. The entire area was rebranded as ‘Chhota Haridwar’.

As the name suggests, ‘Chhota Haridwar’ is modelled after Har Ki Pauri at Haridwar in Uttarakhand. Situated along National Highway 58, at an hour’s drive from Meerut, Chhota Haridwar was envisioned to attract both tourists and pilgrims. However, today, the place is infamous for many things unholy, ranging from theft and extortion to murder.

MLA’s Letter Sparks Off Row

The controversy first started when Nand Kishore Gurjar, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Member of Legislative Assembly from Ghaziabad’s Loni district, wrote a letter to the Ghaziabad District Magistrate. His letter said that there are allegations that the divers at Chhota Haridwar are killing people by drowning them. He said they not only steal jewellery worn by the victims but also extort hefty sums to the tune of Rs 20,000-25,000 from the relatives of the drowned under the pretext of searching and handing over their bodies. He said two to three bodies are found in the canal every day and relatives of the victims even suspect the involvement of the temple priest. Gurjar asked for an investigation into the “gang” behind it.

The letter created a sensation given the serious nature of the allegations. Acting on the letter, District Magistrate Ritu Maheshwari tasked Modinagar’s Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Pawan Agarwal to probe the matter. Similarly, Ghaziabad’s Senior Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Krishna tasked the Superintendent of Police (Dehat) A K Maurya with a probe.

Video Supports The Serious Allegations

A few days later, a video surfaced that showed an altercation between a woman and her apparent ‘saviour’. The woman in the video can be seen accusing the diver of snatching her necklace. In fact, the diver can be seen returning the necklace when the locals gathered at the scene and the situation escalated. The woman also alleged that she started sinking only because someone pulled at her leg.

Commenting on the video, MLA Gurjar told the media that such incidents were regular and the one in video was not an isolated one. He went on to meet the Ghaziabad DM along with nine families who had lost their kin in the water. He alleged that the divers would first pull these people into the water and then tie them with ropes to rocks underwater, so the body does not rise to the surface.

Temple Priest Blames Muslims

Responding to the MLA’s allegations that the temple priest could also be involved, Chhota Haridwar’s Shani-Shiv Mandir’s mahant Mukesh Goswami rubbished the charges as baseless. He, instead, blamed members of the Muslim community for crimes at these spots. He said that there used to be divers there till a year ago, mostly Muslims, who were fired when found to be involved in thefts. Since then, he said, the temple’s own staff have been serving as divers. The mahant also accused members of the Muslim community from nearby areas of loitering around temples and harassing tourists and pilgrims. He also said that despite informing the administration about this multiple times, and despite police’s local intelligence unit’s (LIU) reports, nothing was ever done about such harassment.

A Navbharat Times report quoted residents as saying that the divers fired belonged to Muslim community and they might be indulging in fresh crimes in revenge and to disturb peace in the area.

MLA Gurjar, however, has maintained that he never dragged any community into the matter.

Probe Report Puts Police In The Dock

A report by the Modinagar SDM was released earlier this month. Before that, the Ghaziabad SSP had denied the MLA’s allegations and said that no report similar to claims made by MLA Gurjar had been filed. Some locals too had refuted the MLA’s claims and said that it was all an attempt to drive mahant Mukesh Goswami away and take over the temple.

The administration’s probe report has, however, accused the police of lapses in recording crimes. The report mentioned two cases of drowning, whereas the police mentioned none. The SSP has since said that an inquiry will be ordered into these cases.

The report expressed concerns about the safety and security of the visitors and a lack of facilities at the site. It was also found that the land actually belonged to the Uttar Pradesh irrigation department. Acting on the report’s recommendations, DM Maheshwari has ordered the SDM Modinagar to take charge of Chhota Haridwar from the temples presently running it. A committee of six officials has been formed for the upkeep of the area and Modinagar SDM has been made its administrator. The DM has also ordered Chhota Haridwar’s boards to be removed from the site.

Notably, MLA Gurjar had also accused those running Chhota Haridwar of playing with people’s religious sentiments, as he alleged that they were advertising Murad Nagar’s Gang Nahar as the Ganga river and people, not only from nearby areas but also from as far away as Haryana, were coming there on Ganga Dushera for bathing and to immerse the ashes of their dead, believing the canal to be the actual Ganga river.

Questions Remain

While the administration has taken action based on SDM Modinagar’s report, there are still several gaps to be filled. Firstly, the police has not come up with the report of their own investigation that SP (Dehat) was tasked with. Also, there are discrepancies between the administration’s report and claims of the MLA and victim’s families. The report mentions two cases (the police had recorded none), whereas the MLA has maintained throughout that there are at least nine families who have lost their kin.

Also, even as the administration is now taking over the area, there has been silence over the role of the administration itself. It’s not that Chhota Haridwar came into being over the course of the last few months. It took years to be built and known. When the construction and rebranding there was first reported in 2013, Manjeet Singh, Meerut’s then commissioner, denied any knowledge of the development and said that information regarding this would be sought from Ghaziabad’s DM.

Mahant Mukesh Goswami had back then said that Ghaziabad Development Authority and temples would develop the site just like Haridwar’s Har ki Pauri. The mahant also said that he hoped that people would take jal for kanwad from there only and not from Haridwar, and Chhota Haridwar would also therefore attract kanvadiyas. The same report also states that due to rebranding, property rates had also skyrocketed there. A piece of land near Chhota Haridwar totalling 1,600 square yards that would have earlier cost Rs 18 lakh is valued over Rs 1 crore.

So it’s not that the administration was unaware of the wrongdoings at Chhota Haridwar. It had been notified of developments there by as early as 2013, and intentions to dupe pilgrims by projecting the canal as Ganga river have been known since then, and yet nothing happened until MLA Gurjar raised the issues in the wake of reports of drowning and murders.