Delhi Police arrests 15 people after violence erupted in Daryaganj

The Delhi Police on Saturday, December 20, arrested 15 people after a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, turned violent in the Daryaganj area on Friday. The police had yesterday detained 40 persons for allegedly pelting stones on their personnel, who sustained injuries, during the protest.

The detainees were, however, kept inside a police station and not allowed to meet anyone for hours, following which a direction was issued to the station house officer (SHO) by the court to let them meet their legal counsel in the station premises. The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate also directed the police to provide the detainees necessary medical treatment. 

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Daryaganj violence

According to the police, the protestors had set ablaze a private car which was parked at Subhash Marg, Daryaganj, right outside the office of the DCP. The fire was immediately doused with water and fire extinguishers. The Delhi Police resorted to lathi-charge and used water cannon to disperse protesters as violence erupted in the area, which conducting a march against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on Friday with stones being hurled on security personnel.

Delhi police PRO MS Randhawa said, "Many of our personnel injured, some people detained. We used mild force and water cannon didn't lathi-charge protesters or lob tear-gas shells. Outsiders were involved in violence near Delhi Gate during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act; some people have been detained". 

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Anti-CAA protests rock the nation

Meanwhile, violent protests have been witnessed in Assam where four people have died, in West Bengal where numerous public property was damaged and the internet was snapped in places. In Delhi, buses were burnt and Jamia Millia students were attacked by the police. While several parts of the country saw violent protests, in other places people were seen protesting in a peaceful manner, particularly at Delhi's Jantar Mantar where the demonstrators sang Saare Jahan Se Achha Hindustan Hamara in patriotic fervour. Protests have erupted across the country against the Act, which grants Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. 

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