Delhi violence: 2 fatalities at LNJP Hospital, toll rises to 24

New Delhi, Feb. 26 (PTI): Two deaths were recorded at LNJP Hospital on Wednesday, taking the count of people who have died in the northeast Delhi violence to 24, authorities said.

These were the first cases of casualty reported at LNJP Hospital, which has been receiving a number of patients since the violence broke out between groups supporting and opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on Monday evening.

“One person was brought dead, while another died during treatment,” Medical Superintendent of LNJP Hospital Kishore Singh told PTI.

Earlier, the toll stood at 22, all fatalities being recorded at GTB Hospital.

Situation ‘under control’, says NSA Doval
The situation in the riot-hit northeast Delhi “is under control”, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said after he held a meeting with senior officials of the Delhi Police and visited some of the affected areas on Wednesday afternoon.

Doval, who has been tasked with checking the violence, held a meeting with the top brass of the Delhi Police at the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) in Seelampur.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Mandeep Singh Randhawa, newly-appointed special CP S N Shrivastava, Special CP (Law and Order) Satisha Golcha and DCP of northeast Delhi Ved Prakash Arya were among those present in the meeting that lasted just over 30 minutes.

This was Doval’s second visit to the office. He had visited the office and met senior officers on late night on Tuesday.

After the meeting, Doval went to Jaffrabad and Maujpur to take stock of the situation. He interacted with locals and assured them about ensuring peace in the area.

“The situation is under control and people are satisfied. We have confidence in law enforcement agencies. Police is doing their job and is alert,” he told reporters.

Uneasy calm prevails in north-east Delhi as fear looms large

New Delhi, Feb. 26 (IANS): An unpredictable calm descended on the streets of north-east Delhi where rioters unleashed a wave of violence, burning shops, showrooms, petrol pumps and killing people for 48 hours.

Commissioner of Police Amulya Patnaik, who is set to demit office by this month-end, said there were adequate numbers of police personnel deployed, but people strongly doubt his claim.

Sources said many calls were made to the police control room headed by IPS officer Muktesh Chander in the last two days, but only some were attended. The figures of distress calls would never be made public as per Patnaik’s directions, the sources said.

There were areas in Maujpur, Karawal Nagar, Chand Bagh, Joharpuri, Shiv Puri, Jafrabad, Kardampuri and other places across the north-east region of the city which became completely inaccessible for the police personnel and people were left to fend for themselves.

“We kept on calling the police control room, but no one came. Our shops were burnt down and houses were attacked,” said Amarjeet Paswan in Karawal Nagar.

Adiya, who lives in Kardampuri, said, “Petrol bombs were thrown at our houses. We called up the police control room, but there was no response.”

Almost everywhere in north-east Delhi, tension is palpable as burnt buses, cars, scooters, bikes and auto rickshaws are scattered on the road. Every third shop on the main road is either robbed or burnt. “It was complete mayhem,” said Suresh, a resident of Bhajanpura.

Bricks and stones used by rioters have turned roads into battle zones.

The government has put the death toll at 24, but it is set to rise. An intelligence Bureau official was found dead and his body was recovered on Wednesday from a drain in Chand Bagh area.

Sources said Ankit Sharma, the IB official, was severely beaten up and then thrown into the drain.

The government’s figure of around 200 people injured, too, will go up substantially with hospital authorities claiming that many injured people have left for treatment at private hospitals.

Many houses are still smouldering as fire brigade could not reach the places to douse the flames. “We were not allowed by the police due to safety reasons at various places,” said a fireman at Joharpuri.

At many places, fire brigade and police personnel refused to enter the lanes where people were armed and ready to attack on the police force.

At Joharpuri and Karawal Nagar, Special Commissioner of Police SN Srivastav, who has been tasked with controlling the situation, found that people armed with bricks were sitting on the rooftops after which he issued direction to his men to disarm them and catch the perpetrators.

“If someone says the situation is under control, he or she is lying,” said a senior police officer who was at Maujpur, waiting for National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to peacefully cross the troubled area.