Cop, 4 killed in Delhi as protesters run riot

NEW DELHI: Two groups, one opposed to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and largely composed of Muslims, and another, supporting the new law and mostly made up of Hindus, both armed with guns, swords, stones, sticks, rods, and petrol bombs, clashed in north-east Delhi on Monday, leaving a policeman and four civilians dead, and at least 75 injured. The communal clashes pointed to lapses in law enforcement and came just a few hours before US President Donald Trump landed in the Capital. Home ministry officials familiar with the matter said the clashes seemed to have been orchestrated to coincide with the highprofile visit, although home secretary Ajay Bhalla refused to speculate on the issue. He said the situation was under control. “Sufficient forces have been deployed; senior officers are in the field,” he told reporters.

Still, the intensity of the violence – among the worst scenes of rioting in the Capital since the 1984 anti-sikh violence — seems to have taken the police by surprise. The clashes, in Jafrabad, neighbouring Maujpur and several other places in the vicinity, escalated rapidly, but weren’t entirely unexpected — given how the rapid eruption of protests across the city, and the ongoing 70-day blockade at Shaheen Bagh

— have converted parts of the city into virtual time bombs.

Jafrabad is the site of a sit-in protest against CAA, much like the bigger one at Shaheen Bagh, where protesters have blocked off one of the main roads linking Delhi with its satellite city, Noida, for around two months. The Delhi Police and the Union home ministry, in charge of law enforcement in the city-state, have allowed the blockade at Shaheen Bagh to continue, despite the inconvenience to commuters on a daily basis and, more importantly, the prospect of impending violence should a pro-caa group decide to launch a counter protest at the same venue.