By Pallavi Priya

When dawn broke in Haldwani on 8 February, it seemed like the beginning of any other day in this part of Uttarakhand. However, as the day unfolded, six people were dead and over 100 injured (14 critically) in the violence that broke out after the demolition of a madrassa and an ‘mosque-like structure’ during an anti-encroachment driver being run by the administration in Banbhoolpura locality. Mobs even attacked the police and officers from the municipal corporation, leaving many of them severely injured. A curfew was immediately imposed and the situation brought under control.

The DM of Nainital (under which Haldwani falls), Ms. Vandana Singh Chauhan has claimed that since the mob attacked the state machinery, the violence is against the state not any particular community. She, thus, allayed reports of this being a communal riot.

Ms. Chauhan is an IAS officer of 2012 batch. She has faced such violence for the first time during her career. It is also the first such incident in the otherwise peaceful state of Uttarakhand. Ms. Chauhan’s leadership skills were put to the ultimate test during this time. But she proved once again why she is known as an efficient officer in all her postings. Indian Masterminds takes a look at her journey so far.

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