New Delhi: In one of the most violent flare-ups in the history of New Delhi, seven people, including a police constable, died in clashes that were triggered on Monday. Groups carrying out demonstrations in favour of CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and anti-CAA protesters hurled stones at each other and public property and private vehicles were set on fire, often in the presence of police and paramilitary personnel. Delhi police appealed for peace and imposed Section 144 in most parts of the north east Delhi.
Gopal Rai, the MLA of one of the worst affected constituency, Babarpur, has alleged police inaction and claimed that armed goons were roaming freely in his constituency in the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.
News18 was on ground, witnessing the clashes first-hand as they were breaking out in parts of north east Delhi. Here’s a blow-by-blow account of how violence unfolded through the day on Monday.
Jafrabad Protest Site at 10 am
Around 600 people, mostly women, were huddled in a sit-in protest against the CAA on Monday morning. The anti-CAA protesters were sitting on the road near Jafrabad metro station. On walls of the metro station, anti-CAA slogans could be seen spray-painted in black. Police along with paramilitary personnel were deployed here in large numbers.
At a school near the protest site, some students were appearing for their board examinations. Parents of some these students could be seen standing outside the government school, waiting anxiously for their children. Many could be seen reading or watching reports on their phones of violence breaking out all around them.
Since Saturday, Jafrabad metro station had become a site of a sit-in protest quite like Shaheen Bagh. Although protests against CAA and NRC have been happening here since January, it was only on Saturday that the protesters decided to block one of the two roads in order to draw attention of the state.
On Monday, the anti-CAA protesters were also joined by supporters of Bhim Army whose chief, Chandrashekhar Azad, had issued a call for nationwide strike on February 23 against a Supreme Court ruling on reservation in promotions. As the day passed, both these protests merged and became one big pool of protesters demonstrating against the CAA, NRC and the recent Supreme Court judgment.
Jafrabad and adjacent areas have remained largely peaceful throughout the day. Despite violence breaking in other parts of north east Delhi, the sit-in protest still continues in the area.
Maujpur Chowk at 11:45 am
There were around 800 people gathered at the Maujpur Chowk in support of CAA. It was here — barely 24 hours ago on Sunday noon — that violence was reported between two groups. Later, BJP leader Kapil Mishra had visited the site and demanded that the road blocked by anti-CAA protesters in Jafrabad be cleared within three days or "we'll have to come on roads".
A large crowd had assembled in that spot on Monday morning. In the main square, one could easily hear a woman shouting potentially communally polarising slogans during a public address. At the Maujpur Chowk, people were engaged in a different sort of sit-in protest — one against the protests against CAA. They could be heard reciting devotional songs and songs of patriotism.
The group was sitting just a few metres from the Maujpur-Babbarpur Metro Station which, along with metro stations in Jafrabad, Gokulpuri, Johri Enclave and Shiv Vihar, has been shut down due to security reasons.
Maujpur, which has become the hub of CAA supporters, is sandwiched between Jafrabad on one side, where a sit-in protest is going on, and Yamuna Vihar side on the other side, where a lot of anti-CAA protesters had assembled in huge numbers. It was in this Maujpur-Yamuna Vihar stretch that most of the violence unfolded during the day.
It was here at the Maujpur-Babarpur metro station that the first instances of violence between people in support of CAA and those against it broke out. Shortly after 12 pm, people from each of the camps started throwing stones at each other. Meanwhile, Delhi Police personnel made human chains blocking Maujpur and Yamuna Vihar.
But the anti-CAA protesters soon got more aggressive and started throwing stones at the police and paramilitary personnel. To control the situation, and disperse the crowds, police fired tear gas shells. But the cops and paramilitary personnel struggled to control the crowds and, in fact, the uniformed personnel were seen crouching and ducking to save themselves from stones that were being thrown at them.
Some police personnel got injured in the heavy stone pelting. After getting support in the form of additional CRPF companies, they started lathi-charging protesters to disperse them.
Kabir Nagar at 12:50 pm
After being dispersed from near the metro station, anti-CAA protesters went to the adjoining area of Kabir Nagar and tried to hide themselves in the densely-packed colonies. Around six rounds of tear gas shots were fired to disperse them. The protesters could be seen throwing stones and glass bottles at the police and paramilitary personnel.
After 15 minutes, the police also retaliated and chased the anti-CAA protesters as they went in the area. Police could be seen apprehending one protester and taking him into custody. After half-an-hour, some protesters came out of hiding and appealed for peace. After that DCP North-East Ved Prakash Surya told the media present at the spot that the situation was under control.
Yamuna Vihar at 1:22 pm
Anti-CAA protesters standing on the Maujpur Road got violent and started throwing stones at the police. The police, in turn, fired tear gas shells at them. Protesters were seen wearing helmets and masks soaked with water to counter the effects of tear gas shells.
Later in the evening, violence broke out in adjoining areas of Bhajanpura and Chand Bagh. One petrol pump was set afire in Bhajanpura. In Chand Bagh, protesters injured head constable Ratan Lal, who was later declared dead by doctors. The car of DCP Shahadra Amit Sharma was set on fire. Sharma also suffered several injuries during violence in the Chand Bagh area.
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