Picture : Twitter / ANI
The national capital, Delhi, too witnessed a wave of fresh protests with a car being set on fire during one of the several demonstrations by people in their thousands who took to the streets shouting anti-government slogans over the contentious citizenship law.
The epicentre of the protest was the locality around the Jama Masjid where large number of people held a massive protest after the Friday prayers at the mosque defying prohibitory orders and police clampdown.
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, holding up a copy of the Constitution, was leading the protesters in a march from Jama Masjid area to Jantar Mantar but they were stopped at the Delhi Gate locality where large number of barricades were erected.
Violence broke out in the Delhi Gate area when a group of agitating demonstrators resorted to stone-pelting after police tried to forcefully evict them. In the melee, one car was set on fire and several others were damaged.Rapid Action Force (RAF) took out flag march in Daryaganj area.
Delhi: Rapid Action Force (RAF) takes out flag march in Daryaganj area, after protest over #CitizenshipAct in the area today. pic.twitter.com/zi5uSV4Tl0
— ANI (@ANI) December 20, 2019
Delhi Police said one of its joint commissioners and several other personnel sustained injuries in the stone-pelting. “We have detained a number of people. Some outsiders have incited violence in the area,” Delhi Police spokesperson M S Randhawa told reporters.
The road leading to Jama Masjid was littered with footwear and stones as police chased away the protesters from the area.
Hours before the violence broke out, an announcement was made from a nearby mosque in Delhi Gate urging people to maintain peace and go back home as they have already expressed their anguish over the new law.
Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act were also witnessed in several other areas in the national capital including in Jamia Millia Islamiya, Seemapuri, Jantar Mantar, India Gate and northeast Delhi’s Seelampur, the site of large scale violence by protesters .
