New Delhi: An uneasy calm prevailed in Tilak Vihar area of West Delhi, on Friday, a day after clashes between members of two communities left 19 people injured, including five cops and three with bullet injuries.
A heavy deployment of police personnel in anti-riot gear was seen in the area with barricades erected on the street partitioning the localities of the two communities as tension continued to prevail in the area after Thursday’s clashes.
“Everything is under control now and the situation is peaceful. We will continue to keep tight vigilance in the locality,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (West) V Renganathan.
“Three people with bullet injuries were brought to our hospital. One of them was critical. He was operated upon to take out the bullet.
“All the injured brought to our hospital have either being discharged or shifted to other hospitals,” said Dr Savita Babbar, medical superintendent of DeenDayalUpadhyayHospital.
Local residents have been giving different versions of the reasons behind the clash, but almost everybody in the locality has accused the police of firing on the mob, a claim, which has been vehemently denied by the police.
“We used water canon, mild lathi charge and tear gas shells to control the mob. We did not open fire on the mob,” said a police official.
Locals, however, have claimed that police used excessive force and more than two dozen people were injured in the incident. The official figure released by the police is 19.
"Police arrived at 3 pm. They not only used water canon and tear gas but also opened fire. Twenty-five to 30 people were injured in the incident while at least three persons had sustained bullet injuries. Now they are stopping us to enter from our own area,” said an eyewitness.
“It all started between 1 to 2 pm when a motorcycle rider of one community knocked down a boy belonging to the other community while he was flying a kite on the road.
“Both of them entered into a heated argument. Soon more people joined from both sides leading to a fist fight and then to stone pelting,” said a police official.
When police reached the spot and tried to stop them, the warring groups resorted to stone pelting and torched three police vehicles, he said.
The Tilak Vihar police post, which lies between the localities of the two communities, seems to have borne the brunt of the clash most with stones and bricks lying everywhere, even inside it.
Around two dozen vehicles, including three police vehicles, were torched by the angry mob while a number of others parked in the area were vandalised.
A case under sections of rioting, illegal use of weapons and damaging public property has been registered at Tilak Nagar police station, the police said.
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