Delhi communal clash: Hunt on for five key accused

Forty-four people have been arrested following the communal clash in Delhi's Trilokpuri, but a hunt is still on for five men whose acts triggered the violence, police said Monday.

Police said they were looking for "five goons" - the key accused in igniting the whole communal violence during Thursday night's Diwali celebrations.

"We have identified five people who triggered the whole clash. All are residents of Trilokpuri and they belong to both Hindu and Muslim communities," a police official said.

The five had consumed alcohol near a 'Mata ki Chowki' temporarily set up in Block 20 of Trilokpuri Thursday night, and were also eating non-vegetarian food, he said.

When some devotees stopped them from doing so, they threw a piece of meat near the 'Mata Ki Chowki' which triggered the clash.

"These five men are anti-social elements. They have nothing to do with any religion. They are known to indulge in fights over petty issues to show their superiority in the area," Joint Commissioner of Police Sanjay Beniwal told IANS.

Police said a heated argument started after the whole act, and within a few minutes two groups turned violent and started pelting stones at each other.

The situation was brought under control in a few hours but it again turned violent Saturday leading to injuries to at least 70 people -- 56 policemen and 14 residents.

Following a brief period of calm, clashes erupted again and five people were shot at Saturday evening.

As the area still remains tense, the movement of public transport vehicles is completely restricted.

Delhi Police have so far arrested 44 people who were named in three separate first information reports (FIRs) while 14 have been detained for making hoax calls to police.

No fresh violence has been reported since Sunday, said Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Deepak Mishra.

Prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrPC (prohibiting unlawful assembly of people) are still in force to avoid violence, Mishra told IANS.

The whole of Trilokpuri, divided into 36 blocks, was being manned by over 1,000 security personnel - from Delhi Police, Rapid Action Force and Central Reserve Police Force along with over 30 police vans, water cannons and riot control vehicles.

All the main exit and entry points to the are have been sealed by police.