Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Toll climbs to 13 as communal violence mars Delhi peace anew

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Monday’s gun-brandishing man identified as Shahrukh

New Delhi: Communal violence over the amended citizenship law escalated in northeast Delhi on Tuesday taking the death toll to 13 as police struggled to check the rioters who ran amok on streets, burning and looting shops, pelting stones and thrashing people.
After overnight incidents of arson, tension smouldered in Delhi and as the day progressed, streets in several localities like Chand Bagh, Bhajanpura, Gokulpuri, Maujpur, Kardampuri and Jaffrabad saw pitched battles between the members of two groups who also hurled petrol bombs and opened fire.
Late in the night, locals in Maujpur area claimed that announcements were being made by police on loudspeakers about promulgation of shoot-at-sight orders, but Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) Ved Prakash Surya denied it.
Over 200 people, including 48 police personnel, have been injured and half of the civilians have suffered gunshot wounds, hospital authorities said.
The violence, which started on Sunday after anti-CAA protests blocked a road outside Jaffrabad Metro station and BJP leader Kapil Mishra called a gathering in favour of CAA, intensified on Tuesday, despite shored-up security in the city in view of US President Donald Trump’s visit. The protesters withdrew from the site on Tuesday night.
As Delhi Police faced allegations of inaction, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting at noon with Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, city police commissioner Amulya Patnaik and others on steps to restore peace. Delhi Police spokesperson said 11 FIRs have been registered in connection with the violence.
Over 20 persons have been detained and only one person, identified as Shahrukh who had fired a few rounds in the air after brandishing a gun at a policeman, has been arrested.
Sixty-seven companies of police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed across the area, police sources said. In scenes not seen in Delhi for decades, frenzied groups thrashed people on the road and vandalised vehicles. Mediapersons were also attacked.
Rioters damaged two fire tenders in Gokulpuri and crowds raising incendiary slogans set ablaze fruit carts, rickshaws and anything that came in their way in the epicentre of the trouble Maujpur and other places.
Police fired teargas shells to disperse the rioters — armed with stones, rods and even swords and many wearing helmets to protect themselves — and was assisted by paramilitary force.
Streets were littered with mangled remains of vehicles, bricks and burnt tyres, mute testimony to the violence and bloodshed that took on a communal taint on Monday. According to Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital officials, eight people succumbed to injuries suffered during Tuesday’s violence, taking the death toll to 13.
“Fifty per cent of those injured have sustained bullet injuries,” Medical Superintendent Sunil Kumar said.
Flag marches were conducted in Bhajanpura, Khajuri Khas and other places, but clashes continued till late in night. Randhawa said the areas affected by violence are congested and inhabited by mixed population.
The meeting presided by Shah resolved that workers of political parties should join hands to restore peace and peace committees should be reactivated in all localities. Schools were shut and fearful residents stayed indoors as mobs roamed the streets, seemingly unmindful of prohibitory orders restricting the assembly of more than four people imposed on Monday.
“There is hardly any police presence in the area. Rioters are running around threatening people, vandalising shops. Families need to be evacuated. We are unsafe in our own homes,” said a resident of Maujpur, requesting anonymity.
Another said this is the first time in 35 years — possibly since the 1984 anti-Sikh riots — that he has seen a situation such as this. “The area had always remained peaceful,” he said.
A few residents in Yamuna Vihar and Jaffrabad told PTI they had seen rioters with swords in their hands.
Kejriwal asked people to refrain from violence and said all issues can be dealt with through dialogue.
“Stop this madness,” he said after visiting the injured in GTB Hospital.
“I have met the people who were injured, also met some people who sustained bullet injuries. The biggest concern is to stop the violence. I appeal to everyone to stop the violence,” he said. (PTI)

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