CAB protests: Uneasy calm in Seelampur, police arrest 6 for arson

New Delhi, Dec 19: The Delhi Police has arrested six people in connection with the violence that ensued in Seelampur following protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Two FIRs were registered in connection with the case on Tuesday and six people were arrested on Wednesday, police said.

Meanwhile, an uneasy calm prevailed in Seelampur and Jafrabad areas of northeast Delhi on Wednesday, a day after groups of people protesting against the controversial citizenship law fought pitched battles with police.

Road number 66, which was the centre of violence, was packed with vehicles and the police and the paramilitary personnel carried out a flag march.

A 29-year-old human right activist, Ovais Sultan Khan, said people were in panic, but the situation was under control.

"There was a protest against the CAA, NRC and the incident happened in Jamia. The situation here is normal and people have come out of their houses for work," Khan said.

"The locals were not involved in the violence on Tuesday so they are out of the houses as they do not need to hide themselves."

Angry protesters pelted stones at police personnel, torched several motorcycles and vandalised two police booths as well as three buses in Seelampur on Tuesday.

Shahid Changezi, the president of Jafrabad resident welfare association, said everything was normal here.

"The locals were peacefully protesting and marching in the area. However, some outsiders started pelting stones on the police," the 54-year-old said.

"They were not from the Jafrabad area and many of them had covered their faces," Changezi said. "They came from the Janta Colony area and burnt three bikes and vandalised several vehicles, including the buses."

Shakeel Ahmed -- who deals in jackets at Jafrabad, considered one of Asia''s biggest jacket markets -- condemned the violence where the 21 people got injured.

"We closed our shops on Tuesday and joined the protest. It was very peaceful till 2 pm," Ahmed said.

"We have taken the shops on rent as it is a seasonal business. If the shops will be closed like this for a couple of more days, then we will have to bear a huge losses," he said.

Mohammad Anees, a businessman, said the jacket dealers suffered losses due to protest.

"Due to the violence, the buyers are scared and it will take one or two days more them to come here to buy the jackets," Anees said.

Twenty-one people, including 12 policemen and six civilians, were injured in the clashes in Seelampur that continued for one-and-a-half hours. Police have arrested eight people in connection with the violence.

"The incident happened around 1.30 pm when we were inside our shops. We saw a huge crowd on the streets, following which we closed our shops and went to our houses," said Rajesh Chawla, a shopkeeper. "We have seen many of them were vandalising the vehicles and also pelting stones on the police."

Section 144 has been invoked in North East district. The police undertook flag marches while the people appealed for maintaining peace and harmony and not to lend credence to rumours.