Protesters torch vehicle in Delhi's Daryaganj, police use water cannons
Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act turned violent in Delhi's Daryaganj on Friday. The agitators set a vehicle on fire during the violent protests. They also pelted stones on police, following which the cops resorted to usage of water cannons to disperse the protesters. Slippers, shoes, and stones were seen all across the road after the incident.
"Outsiders were involved in the violence that broke out after the protest. Outsiders were provoking them. We have detained many and their role will be probed.
"Several police personnel have been injured in the violence. Our Joint CP has also been injured by stone pelting. The crowd had come from outside," police Public Relations Officers (PRO) Mandeep Singh Randhawa told reporters.
The violence and arson during the protest against the amended citizenship law, is the first incident of arson in what had been a largely peaceful day of demonstration in the national capital.
"We used mild force and water cannon but did not use tear gas and lathicharge," Randhawa told reporters.
The protesters wanted to march to Jantar Mantar from Jama Masjid but were stopped near Delhi Gate. In the evening, many of the protesters tried climbing barricades and the police tried to push them back.
Randhawa also said the protests were largely peaceful and insisted that "outsiders" were inciting the people, many of whom had already dispersed before the violence broke out.
Meanwhile, scores of people gathered at the India Gate here to voice their dissent. Raising slogans of 'Azaadi', 'No NRC, No CAA', the protesters, most of them college students, demanded that the new law be repealed.
Earlier on Friday, thousands of people held a massive protest near the historic Jama Masjid in central Delhi on Sunday, shouting slogans and holding placards voicing their anguish against the new citizenship law amidst heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces. A large number of people joined the demonstration after attending the Friday prayers at the mosque. Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, holding up a copy of the Constitution, was leading the protesters.
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