New Delhi: Ten people, many of them with criminal records, have been arrested for indulging in arson and setting vehicles afire during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in New Friends Colony near Jamia Millia Islamia on Sunday, the Delhi Police said on Tuesday.
A senior police officer said none of those arrested were university students. "Out of the 10 arrested, three are bad characters of the area. They were identified and put under arrest," the officer said.
He also said raids are being carried out in various parts of Delhi's south east districts to nab those who indulged in violence during protests. Delhi Police had registered two separate cases against unknown people for arson and rioting.
The trouble had begun on Sunday evening after a peaceful march by students against the controversial amended Citizenship Act turned into a pitched battle between a violent mob and Delhi Police. At least three buses, a fire truck, 10 police bikes and over a 100 private vehicles were damaged.
Following the violence, the police had entered the campus of Jamia Millia Islamia and also used force despite the students issuing a statement distancing themselves from the violence.
Jamia authorities and students had claimed they had nothing to do with the violence and arson during the protest and alleged that "certain elements" had joined in and disrupted the peaceful march. Around 30 policemen, including some senior police officers, had sustained injuries while dispersing the protesters outside the campus.
Several students, at least 200 according to Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar, were injured as police entered their campus and lathi-charged them. The police had also thrown teargas shells inside campus, barged into the premises and dragged students out of the library before assaulting them.
On Monday, the university V-C had demanded a high-level enquiry against police entry into campus and the crackdown on students a day earlier. She said the university would also file an FIR against “unidentified police personnel” for the “violence and vandalism”.
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