The Delhi Police on Sunday said they have filed over 700 cases and detained or arrested nearly 2,400 people in connection with the communal violence in North East Delhi last month. At least 53 people were killed and over 200 injured in the violence, which began after supporters and opponents of the Citizenship Amendment Act clashed with one another.
The police said 2,387 people have been either detained or arrested in relation to the violence. As many as 702 cases have been filed, 49 of them under the Arms Act. The police force has also held 283 meetings with Aman Committees in violence-hit areas, in an effort to bring peace to the city.
The Delhi Police have been accused of either inaction or complicity in some instances of violence, mostly in Muslim neighbourhoods.
The Delhi Minorities Panel had alleged earlier this month that the violence was well-planned and one-sided. Zafarul-Islam Khan, the commission’s chairperson, claimed that nearly 1,500 to 2,000 outsiders were brought to North East Delhi and most of them were kept in schools for nearly 24 hours before launching the attacks as part of a planned conspiracy.
The Citizenship Amendment Act provides citizenship to refugees from six minority communities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who have entered India on or before December 31, 2014. The Act, passed on December 11, has been criticised for excluding Muslims. In December, at least 28 people died in protests against the Act.
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