The women protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA on the road underneath the Jafrabad metro station in Northeast Delhi vacated the spot on Tuesday evening, police said. They were sitting on protest since Saturday night.
“The protesters have left the Jafarabad metro station and the Maujpur Chowk is also clear. Now, 66 Futa road is absolutely clear of all protests,” Delhi Police Special Commissioner Satish Golcha said.
Adequate security has been deployed in Maujpur, Seelampur, Gokulpuri and other localities of Northeast Delhi which have seen violent protests in the last three days.
“As the situation escalated since Sunday, police and locals vacated the road outside the Jafrabad metro station. We also asked the outsiders, who were creating issues in the area, to leave,” said Naushad, one of the protesters. But the women announced that they are shifting “temporarily”. “We will restore the sit-in once the situation is under control,” said a protester, requesting anonymity.
The protest is now going on near the main Seelampur road, about two kilometres from the protest site in Jafrabad.
These areas have turned into war zones since Monday when clashes broke out. Stones were pelted at the police, houses burnt and vehicles smashed. Seventeen people, including a Delhi Police head constable, have been killed in the clashes, and more than 250 injured.
What started off as clashes between pro- and anti-CAA groups over the weekend further degenerated into communal violence on Tuesday – the signs were already there on Monday – with rioters armed with guns, swords, sticks, and stones, running amok on the streets.
The 1.2 km stretch from Jafrabad to Maujpur was already tumultuous, and clashes spread to areas such as Bhajanpura, Kardampuri, Shastri Park, Brahmpuri and Jyoti Nagar. Rioters damaged two fire tenders in Gokalpuri, and crowds shouting incendiary slogans set on fire a bike in Maujpur.
Delhi Police spokesperson Mandeep Randhawa said 11 first information reports have been registered and 20-25 persons have been detained in connection with the violence.
The police also directed the imposition of Section 144 (prohibitory orders) of the Code of Criminal Procedure that prohibits the assembly of four or more people in violence-hit areas.
As concerns mounted over the clashes, the government repatriated 1985 batch Indian Police Service officer SN Shrivastava from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to the Delhi Police, and posted him as the special commissioner of police – law and order. He is likely to succeed Delhi Police commissioner Amulya Patnaik who is retiring at the end of this month.
Prasanta Patnaik