Anti-CAA Protesters Cane-Charged, Teargassed in Delhi’s Seelampur

New Delhi: Police resorted to baton charge and fired tear gas shells to disperse angry protesters demanding scrapping of the amended citizenship law in Delhi’s Seelampur area. The protesters allegedly torched several motor bikes, pelted stones and damaged buses as fresh violence erupted in the national capital.

Plumes of smoke billowed from at least two localities as the standoff continued for around one-and-a-half hours. Police said the situation has been brought under control, alleging that two bikes of traffic cops were burnt by the demonstrators, a police booth vandalised and CCTV cameras taken away.

Some security personnel were also injured in the incident, police said.

The clashes erupted two days after violence broke out during a protest in the New Friends Colony in South Delhi near Jamia Millia Islamia.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to Delhiites to maintain peace, saying violence cannot be tolerated in a civilised society.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party and its Seelampur MLA, Haji Ishraq, urged the people to register their protest peacefully after the area witnessed violence.

"I am appealing all the people to register protest and convey their message peacefully," Ishraq said in a video message. He urged locals and youngsters not to venture out on the main roads of the area to protest.

Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said people should maintain peace and protest peacefully.

On Sunday, scores of people, including Jamia students and policemen, were injured, four DTC buses were set afire and over 100 private vehicles were damaged when protesters opposing the amended Citizenship Act clashed with police near New Friends Colony.

Police used batons and tear gas shells to disperse the protesters and entered the Jamia campus where several people were detained

Meanwhile, after Tuesday’s violence, a large number of policemen were deployed as tension prevailed in Seelampur and adjoining areas.

According to the police, the protesters were marching from Seelampur towards Zaffrabad. Clashes erupted at Seelampur Chowk when the security personnel tried to stop the protesters from moving ahead.

The protesters raised slogans against the new law as well as the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Several protesters blamed the police for the violence.

Faisal Ahmed, a protestor, said, "We have come here to raise our voice against CAA and NRC. I got injuries on my right leg during police attack."

Police said there were initially small groups of people who started the protest against the CAA and they went in lanes and bylanes of Seelampur. By the time they came on the Zaffrabad main road, there were almost 3,000 protesters, who started moving towards Seelampur T-point where barricades were placed.

A police officer said they made several announcements requesting people to disperse, adding that "when they started dispersing, suddenly stones were hurled. We made several requests to them not to pelt stones, but they did not relent, forcing us to use tear gas to disperse them."

"We have taken the locals into confidence through respectable people in the area and also through mosques and madrassas there. Police have been deployed in the area," the officer said.

Gates of seven metro stations were closed in the wake of the protest, and five of them were reopened after some time. Traffic was also diverted from the area.

Protests were continued against CAA in the national capital and campuses across the country over the alleged police excesses during the incident in Jamia.