Protest Over Citizenship Law Turns Violent in Delhi’s Seelampur, 21 Injured

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

New Delhi: Entry and exit gates at seven metro stations in northeast Delhi were closed on Tuesday in view of protests turning violent in the Seelampur area. Twenty-one people, including 12 policemen, were reportedly injured.

According to the police, protestors torched three motor bikes, pelted stones at police personnel and damaged three buses and two police booths in the violence. A mobile toilet was also set on fire.

Eight CCTV cameras installed in and around a booth in the Seelampur area were taken away by protestors. A LED TV, which was installed inside the booth for monitoring feed from the cameras, was also taken away by the protestors, an officer said.

The officer said people were holding a protest march and it was peaceful till noon, but it turned violent when around 3,000 people joined it.

“We requested them to go back at Seelampur T-point. Protestors ignored our repeated requests and they resorted to stone-pelting. We had to use tear gas to disperse the crowd,” he said.

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A large number of policemen were deployed following the violence. Protesters were marching from Seelampur towards Jafrabad.

Clashes erupted between police and protesters at Seelampur Chowk when security personnel tried to stop protesters from moving ahead.

According to a senior police officer, the protest began at around 12 pm. The protesters raised slogans against the new law as well as the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

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

Two FIRs have been registered at the Seelampur and the Jafrabad police stations in connection with the violence, according to a police officer.