Protesters lathi-charged in Delhi, vehicle set afire

NEWDELHI: Police resorted to lathicharge and used water cannons to disperse a crowd that turned violent in central Delhi’s Daryaganj on Friday, just minutes after a two-and-a-half-hour long peaceful agitation against the amended citizenship law got over.

The police action, which followed stone-pelting and arson, forced several people to flee, including many of those who had joined protests and marches that started in the afternoon and went on till evening -- evidenced by hundreds of abandoned footwear scattered on the road between Delhi Gate and Brij Mohan Chowk. At least 46 people were injured.

While the police said water canons were used and agitators were charged with lathis after they torched a private vehicle parked on the road and started pelting stones, some people in the area alleged police response was disproportionate and indiscriminate. A case of rioting and arson was registered at Daryaganj police station, where over 40 people, including at least 3 minors, were detained.

According to eye-witnesses, thousands of people gathered on Friday afternoon near the deputy commissioner of police’s office on Netaji Subhash Marg, where police had put up barricades near Delhi Gate. Some of them were in the region for Friday payers, considered by Muslims to be the holiest of the week, at the Jama Masjid; some others locals living in the vicinity; and some others who joined the protest just as they had on Thursday in various locations across central Delhi.

At about 5pm, as the protesters started to disperse after chanting slogans, thousands more turned up -- according to the police from parts of north-east Delhi. This group, that soon swelled to about 15,000 as per police estimates, tried to break the cordon of barricades. Police spokesperson MS Randhawa said the security personnel first launched water cannons to disperse the crowd, but then charged with lathis as the agitators torched a private vehicle parked on the road and started pelting stones.

Some people in the area, however, alleged the police response was disproportionate and indiscriminate. “I could see people running back, towards Jama Masjid. There was a lot of commotion. They shouted that the police had started lathi-charge. An elderly man was hit on the head. He was bleeding. The locals were taking him to the hospital. He may have been trapped in the crowd, but was beaten badly, ” said a woman.

Both the police and residents said that those involved in the violence that sparked the clash were “outsiders”, and not the protesters who had gathered since afternoon. According to an HT report, more than 450 tear gas shells were fired in Delhi at the two protest sites. However, no tear gas was used on Friday.