A day after communal clashes broke out in Northwest Delhi’s Jahangirpuri, the Delhi Police on Sunday said that it has arrested 21 persons, 16 of whom are Muslims, in connection with the case and booked them under sections of rioting and criminal conspiracy.
Police also said that two juveniles have also been apprehended. Officers said three firearms and five swords have been recovered from the accused persons.
The accused persons, all residents of Jahangirpuri, have been identified as Zahid (22), Anshar (35), Shahjad (33), Muktyaar (28), Mohd. Ali (22), Amir (22), Akshar (22), Noor Alam (28), Md. Aslam (22), Zakir (22), Akram (22), Imtiyaz (29), Mohd. Ali (27), Salim (and Ahir (35). All the accused were presented before a Delhi court on Sunday. Police said Anshar, Aslam, the prime accused, and Salim have previous criminal involvements.
Police said that they have recovered a pistol from one of the accused persons, Mohd. Aslam, which he had used in the commission of crime.
DCP(Northwest) Usha Rangnani said a case has been lodged at Jahangirpuri Police Station under various IPC sections pertaining to rioting, arson, criminal conspiracy and under section 27 of the Arms Act. The case has now been transferred to the Crime Branch.
The DCP added that nine persons, including eight police personnel and one civilian, were injured in the violence and were subsequently treated at a nearby hospital. “One Sub-Inspector (SI) sustained bullet injuries. His condition is stable,” the DCP said. The SI was identified as Meda Lal.
On Saturday evening, clashes broke out in the area between members of the Hindu and Muslim communities while a ‘Shobha Yatra’ to celebrate Hanuman Jayanti was being taken out in the area.
In the FIR, the complainant, Inspector Rajiv Ranjan Singh, stated that the violence broke out after Anshar, accompanied by some other men, allegedly started arguing with members of the procession which eventually snowballed into a riotous situation and led to stone pelting between both the sides.
DCP Rangani said Anhsar was previously involved in two cases of assault and was also repeatedly arrested under Preventive Sections and booked five times under the Gambling Act and Arms Act.
The FIR further stated that the police personnel deployed at the spot managed to separate the two sides but after a few minutes, stone-pelting started again following which more police teams were called in to bring the situation under control.
Even as there was an uneasy calm in the area, police deployment in the localities was multiplied with companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Rapid Action Force (RAF) manning the barricades placed in several blocks. The area around the mosque was heavily barricaded with civilian entry restricted.
On Sunday, police said that in an attempt to maintain peace and harmony in the area, a meeting was organised by DCP Rangani at Kushal Chowk in the area with the members of the Aman Committee of Jahangirpuri Police Station, Mahendra Park Police Station and Adarsh Nagar Police Station to discuss the way forward following the violence.
“During the meeting, all the members were asked to appeal to the public in their areas to maintain peace, harmony and tranquillity,” the DCP said.
