NEW DELHI: A total of 23 people including two juveniles have been arrested for their alleged involvement in clashes that erupted allegedly after stone-pelting on a Hanuman Jayanti Shobha Yatra in Jahangirpuri area on Saturday.
One Ansar, who has emerged as the mastermind of the violence, has been taken into custody. Investigations carried out so far have revealed that he instigated people and was instrumental in triggering the violence that engulfed the crowded Jahangirpuri area on Saturday evening.
He has been named in the First Information Report (FIR) lodged at Jahangirpuri police station by Inspector Rajiv Ranjan. The New Indian is in possession of the copy of the FIR.
The accused persons arrested include Zahid, Anshar, Shahjad, Mukhtyar, Mohammad Ali, Amir, Aksar, Noor Alam, Md Aslam, Zakir, Akram, Imtyaz, Md Ali, Ahir, Sheikh Saurabh, Suraj, Neeraj, Suken, Suresh, and Sujeet Sarkar.
Fresh skirmish erupted on Monday when a team of Delhi Police went to the residence of accused Salim Chikna who is seen shooting at a policeman in a viral video. A police inspector was injured in the stone pelting on the police team.
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Locals said that two processions had off peacefully on Saturday. Trouble started at around 6 pm when Ansar arrived on the scene and started arguing with participants of the Hanuman Jayanti procession.
On Monday, forensic and ballistic experts of the Delhi Police collected evidence from the site.
At around 6.20 pm, stone pelting started from the houses adjoining the mosque at C Block of Jahangirpuri. It soon engulfed the entire area, leading to complete chaos. Locals alleged that sword-wielding men charged at the houses of Hindus. Delhi Police already present in the area tried to control the crowd and the police personnel too were attacked. They managed to control the situation after reinforcements were called in.
“The police personnel present in the area did an impressive job in controlling the mob,” said Dependra Pathak, Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order).
The entire Jahangirpuri has now turned into a fortress with over 200 armed personnel of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) along with the Delhi Police patrolling the area.
Deputy commissioner of police (Northwest) Usha Rangnani said that the police registered the FIR on Saturday under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 147 (rioting), and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act.
As per senior officials of the Delhi Police, the police have arrested 14 persons in connection with the case.
The official said that the police have also arrested a person named Mohammad Aslam aka Khodu who opened fire at a policeman trying to control the crowd and recovered a pistol used by him in commissioning the crime.
The sub-inspector who received a bullet injury is said to be stable now.
Aslam was involved in a criminal case that was registered in Jahangirpuri in 2020, the official said, adding that four more accused were arrested on Sunday, taking the total number of arrests in the case to 14.
The police are using facial recognition technology to identify those involved in the incident. The police have deployed drones in and around Jahangirpuri for surveillance in order to stop any such attempts further in the area.
The police official said that all mobile footage and CCTV cameras installed in and around the vicinity are being scanned to identify the culprits and trace them.
Heavy police deployment has been made in and around the area and an alert has been sounded across Delhi.