Uttarakhand police on Sunday arrested one Abdul Malik from New Delhi and claimed that he was the “mastermind of Haldwani violence”, a police source said.

Although the state government was yet to say anything about the arrest, the police source said: “A police team went to Delhi and nabbed Malik there on Sunday morning. We are interrogating him in Dehradun.”

However, P.N. Meena, senior superintendent of police of Nainital district, told reporters: “We will soon arrest Malik. The police have arrested 30 accused till time.”

However, the police source said that they had taken into custody 75 persons in the last 48 hours and the manhunt is on to nab other accused.

Violence erupted in Haldwani town of Nainital district on February 8 when an anti-encroachment drive team went there to remove a mosque, a madrasa, some houses and shops in Malik Ke Bageeche area in Banbhoolpura. Five persons died in the incident.

The victims were identified by the local administration as Faeem Qureshi, Mohammad Zahid, Mohammad Anas, Mohammad Shabban and Prakash Kumar.

However, the administration has not yet confirmed who killed them.

Meena said: “Five bodies reached hospital from Banbhoolpura on February 8 and 9. I am conducting an inquiry to find out the reason for the attacks on them and the cause of their deaths. Prakash Kumar’s body was found about three kilometres away from the violence site. It appears that somebody killed him because of personal enmity.”