India’s capital has seen a third day of violence as the death toll from Monday’s clashes went up to at least nine, including a policeman.
Anil Mittal, a senior police officer, said approximately 150 people were injured in the violence that came up after the United State President, Donald Trump arrived on a two-day trip to India.
“Some of the people brought in had gunshot wounds,” Dr Rajesh Kalra, additional medical superintendent at the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, said of Monday’s violence. Fresh violence has been reported from Muslim populated areas such as Karawal Nagar, Maujpur, Bhajanpura, Vijay Park and Yamuna Vihar, while stones were thrown in neighbourhoods such as Maujpur.
Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal appealed to residents to maintain peace after an urgent meeting of his newly elected legislators in the capital. The violence started a day after the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kapil Mishra warned anti-CAA protesters to end their peaceful sit-ins in the northeastern Jafrabad and Maujpur areas of the Indian capital.
On Monday, police used tear gas and smoke grenades but struggled to disperse the stone-throwing crowds. A tyre market was set on fire later on Monday, the Press Trust of India said. A video posted on social media showed crowds of men shouting “Jai Shree Ram” or “Hail Lord Ram”, a revered Hindu deity, as they went on a rampage, according to reporters.
Several vehicles and a fire truck were torched in Jafrabad and Maujpur as police imposed prohibitory orders to prevent further violence.
A resident by name Zohran Jafrabad explained that: “Hundreds of women have been peacefully protesting against the CAA since Saturday night near the Jafrabad Metro station. But on Sunday, after Mishra led the rally, his supporters pelted us with stones leading to clashes”. “The BJP leaders are trying to give the protests a Hindu-Muslim colour. They incite people in the name of religion, which is very unfortunate.”
Mittal, the Delhi Police official stated on Tuesday that additional police officers had been deployed in the northeast district of Delhi. One police constable was among those killed in the violence that erupted just ahead of Trump’s maiden visit to the capital city.
Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks on Tuesday at a venue located a few miles away from where the clashes occurred.
