Uneasy calm, heavy police presence in Jahangirpuri a day after violence

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A large number of police personnel, including anti-riot force, were deployed in the violence-hit areas of Jahangirpuri in northwest Delhi as a uneasy calm prevailed on Sunday.

Shops and markets near the Jahangirpuri metro station remained open on Sunday though people mostly stayed indoors.

There was a heavy police deployment in C Block, the epicentre of the communal clash that left eight police personnel and a local injured on Saturday evening.

Mukesh, a shopkeeper who stays near the C Block mosque, said those who tried to disrupt peace in the area must have been outsiders.

"I have been staying here for last 35 years but have never seen such kind of violence in this area. Hindus and Muslims live here peacefully. People who were in the procession must be outsiders and not Jahangirpuri locals," he said.

Some members of the two communities alleged that actions of the other side triggered the violence.

Sheikh Amzad, a resident of C Block, said he was inside the mosque in C Block when the violence broke out on Saturday evening.

"They (participants of Hanuman Jayanti procession) were chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' and raising provocative slogans. They forcibly entered the mosque and started tying saffron flags in its premises. They were threatening us with swords...That's when stone pelting began. Such an incident has never before happened in Jahangirpuri," he alleged.

Amzad claimed that nearly 50 people forcibly entered the mosque.

Manoj Kumar said he was at his shop in C Block when the violence broke out.

"I saw people screaming and rushing inside their houses...Previously I have seen verbal altercations between the communities here. People in the procession were carrying weapons but stone pelting was done by Muslims first, Kumar claimed.

Security has been beefed up in and around C and D blocks. Barricades have been put up and police personnel deployed at every 200 metres. Despite this, shops around the mosque at C Block were all shut.

According to the police, there was stone-pelting and arson during the clashes between the two communities. Some vehicles were also torched.

The Delhi Police has arrested 14 people over the violence.

As on Sunday morning, there is a heavy police deployment in Jahangirpuri area where the clashes took place. A team of Rapid Action Force has also been deployed to keep a tight vigil on the situation which is now under control, a police officer said.

"Drones and facial recognition software are being used to identify those involved in creating the ruckus. All mobile footage and CCTV cameras installed in and around the vicinity are being scanned to identify the culprits and trace them," said another police officer.

"Right now the situation is totally under control. We have our additional force deployed here. We have done peace committee meetings and are also in touch with prominent residents of the areas. They gave assured that they would maintain peace in respective areas," Deependra Pathak, Special Commissioner Law and Order Zone 1, said.