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Seelampur Violence Sees 21 Injured: Police Makes 12 Fresh Arrests

Protesters demanding scrapping of the amended Citizenship Act and the police clashed in Delhi’s Seelampur area.

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Video Producer: Shohini BoseVideo Editor: Ashutosh Bhardwaj

The Delhi Police on Thursday, 19 December, made 12 fresh arrests in connection with the violence during protests in the northeast part of the city against the amended Citizenship Act, officials told PTI.

The police had arrested three persons on Wednesday and six on Tuesday. The total number of arrests in the matter is now 21.

Officials said while 12 people were nabbed in connection with the violence and vandalism in Seelampur, five have been held for the Jafrabad case and four in the Dayal Pur cases.

On Tuesday, protesters demanding scrapping of the amended Citizenship Act and the police clashed in Seelampur area.

Twenty-one people, including 12 policemen, six civilians and three personnel from the Rapid Action Force, were injured in the Seelampur violence, according to the Delhi Police.

“Two police booths have been damaged. No lathi-charge was done by police,” Alok Kumar, the Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police said regarding the incident.

The protesters reportedly torched several motor bikes, pelted stones at police personnel and damaged buses and a police booth, according to PTI.

Catch all the live updates on the protests against Citizenship Amendment Act here.

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‘Right Leg Injured During Police Attack’

Police resorted to baton charge and fired tear gas shells to disperse the protesters. Plumes of smoke billowed from at least two localities as the standoff continued for around one-and-a-half hours. Police later said the situation had been brought under control.

According to a senior police officer, the protest began at around 12 pm, and the protesters were marching from Seelampur towards Jaffrabad. The protesters raised slogans against the new law as well as the National Register of Citizens (NRC). They said two bikes of traffic cops were burnt by the demonstrators and CCTV cameras installed were taken away by the mob.

Meanwhile, Faisal Ahmed, a protester, had been quoted by PTI as saying, "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.

“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.”
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By the time they came on the Jaffrabad main road, there were almost 3,000 people and the police were escorting them.

When asked about the damage to property due to the violence, the police said they are in the process of taking stock of destruction caused by protestors.

Metro Operations Halted, Disruption in Traffic Movement

Entry and exit gates at as many as seven metro stations in northeast Delhi had been closed on Tuesday in view of the protest. Later, five of them were opened.

Traffic movement had also been closed on a 66-feet road from Seelampur to Jaffrabad (both carriageways) due to the demonstration, the traffic police said.

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AAP Appeals for Calm

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

The 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.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)

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