Five persons, including a cop, were killed and around 50 persons were injured in Delhi on Monday in clashes over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). This happened just hours before United States President Donald Trump reached Delhi at around 7.30 pm. The cop killed in the clashes was Delhi Police constable – Rattan Lal (42). A deputy commissioner of police was among the injured.
The clashes took place in notheast Delhi twice within 24 hours between Sunday and Monday with violence escalating on the second day. This prompted the Delhi government to ask all government and private schools in northeast Delhi to remain closed today.
Supporters and protesters of the CAA clashed, with the streets turning into a war zone – tyres burning, vehicle and shops set on fire, and pieces of bricks thrown at each other. A number of Metro railway stations had to be kept shut temporarily. While Delhi Police initially used tear gas shells, the violence soon spread and increased, prompting the police to call in Rapid Action Force and the Central paramilitary force to bring the situation under control and banning large gatherings in the areas where the violence took place by imposing Section 144. With calls of protests outside the Delhi Police headquarters, Section 144 was imposed there too.
A number of videos of the clashes emerged throughout Monday. One of these shown a man showing what looked like a gun and running at a Delhi Police officer. The police officer appeared unarmed. The man was later detained by the police. In other videos, people could be seen breaking off portions of concrete dividers along the road to throw at each other and fire in a tyre market and fire raging in shops.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal called the violence “very distressing” and urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to “restore law and order and ensure peace and harmony is maintained”.
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