At 3 p.m. on Durgapuri’s 100 Foota Road — adjacent to Babarpur — in north-east Delhi, members of two communities clashed , hurled stones and fired gunshots with not even a single police officer in the sight for more than an hour.
At the spot which was about a km away from Durgapuri Check Post, a group of men with faces covered and lathis in hand continued to throw stones and bricks at each other.
A group of people, sporting tilak on their foreheads, chanted “Jai Sri Ram and Har Har Mahadev” during the attack while another set of crowd abused them.
Meanwhile, a bike, a mini-truck and a shop— all owned by members of minority community — were set ablaze. Our reporter at the crime spot could hear 11 gunshots in six minutes. It is unclear as to who used the firearms.
At 3.45 p.m., members from the minority community with glasses in their hands were met with those from the majority community, carrying sticks and bricks. “ Aamne samne ki ladai hai… bahar aao… kab tak andar rahoge [It’s a face-off…come out…how long will you stay inside your homes],” said a member of the majority community.
Talking about the situation, members of the majority community said they are not clashing because of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act but because they want the roads cleared.
“We want all the roads cleared. They can’t turn the entire Delhi into Shaheen Bagh . Our people are facing problems for so many days now. If they want to stay in Delhi, they have to stay with us,” said a man who identified himself as Abhishek Sharma.
In between the violence, there was a rumour — a temple in the middle of the street has been vandalised — which worsened the scenario in the area.
The locals, who were not part of the clashes in the area, stayed indoors. Some of them peeked from their galleries to see the situation.
They said it was peaceful till 11.30 p.m. but tension escalated afterward, leading to shopkeepers pulling down their shutters.
Reporters threatened
“The police had come in the morning to disperse the crowd but after they left, it started again,” said a resident.
The mob also stopped two journalists of this newspaper from taking out their phones or cameras to record videos. The police after an hour arrived at the spot and tried to pacify the crowd.
Published - February 26, 2020 01:38 am IST
