New Delhi
A Delhi police head constable and a protester died in the violence that erupted over opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Jaffarabad, Maujpur and Bhajanpura areas in North East Delhi on Monday. Violence soon took a communal colour and spread to other parts of North East Delhi as organised groups attacked each other.
Delhi Police Head Constable Rattan Lal succumbed to his head injuries after being hit by a stone during clashes between two groups in Delhi’s Gokulpuri. Mr. Lal was trying to control the situation along with his contingent by asking protesters not to hurl stones at each other when he was hit.
A police officer added that they have been informed by GTB hospital that more than 20 injured persons have been admitted to the hospital. They are getting details of injured persons from other hospitals in the vicinity.
The protester who died in the violence has been identified as Mohammed Furqaan. His brother Mohammad Imran claimed that he got a call from someone stating that his brother had been shot at during the protest.
Several members identified as belonging to the minority community were thrashed by a mob in the area, according to eyewitness accounts. Later, the police arrived in the area.
The violence over the CAA had begun on Sunday. On Monday, fresh cases of stone pelting were reported from near the Babarpur-Maujpur metro station. Later, a similar incident was reported from Khajuri area.
Vehicles, shops and a house were set on fire and paramilitary were police deployed in the area as anti-CAA protesters engaged in violence. Flame and smoke billowed from buildings close to the metro station and two mini-trucks were also vandalised by the protesters. A fire tender was torched.
The Delhi Police fired tear gas shells to disperse the protesters and also appealed to residents to maintain peace and harmony. Stone pelting continued till late in the evening in the Khhajuri area.
Indian police used tear gas and smoke grenades to disperse a crowd of thousands of protesters in India’s capital of New Delhi.
New Delhi has been a hotbed of protest against the controversial new citizenship law and protesters have been camping out continuously in several parts of the capital for the last two months.
Hundreds of people supporting the new law clashed with those opposing it, with stone pelting from both sides. The two groups have been clashing since Sunday and the people supporting the law were seen chanting “Jai Shree Ram”, amid heavy stone pelting from both sides, according to a Reuters witness.
New Delhi’s highest elected official, Arvind Kejriwal, tweeted that the violence was “very distressing”. A 400-meter stretch of road was strewn with bricks and stones after the clash on Monday.
