The hills have eyes that keep a lookout for cops

That day, the hills rang out with the sounds of violence. A thin black tar road, framed by the rugged Aravallis on either side, leads to the Nalhar Mahadev temple, 8km from Nuh, Haryana. On July 31, a day now seared into the National Capital Region’s (NCR) memory, a procession organised by the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal at the temple was at the centre of an attack by Muslim groups. For three hours, as many participated in the communal clash and some cowered, the hills reverberated with gun fire, the clatter of stones, and the shattering of glass bottles used as weapons. The clashes spread quickly. Almost immediately, the communal embers strayed into the Faridabad and the twinkling corporate edifices in Gurugram for several days, leaving six people dead and 88 people injured.