Delhi violence LIVE: PM Modi appeals for peace, 5 IPS officers transferred

Rioters during a clash on Tuesday in Northeast Delhi, where fresh violence erupted between people demonstrating for and against the new citizenship law | PTI

As the death toll in northeast Delhi communal violence over the amended Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rose to 20 on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed for peace and brotherhood in the national capital. Assuring people that the police and other agencies were working on the ground to ensure peace, PM Modi tweeted, it is important that calm and normalcy is restored at earliest.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Congress party called for the army to deal with the situation.

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi slammed Centre and the Delhi government for inaction over the deadly communal violence. "There is a conspiracy behind the violence and tragic incidents in Delhi," Sonia said at a press conference.

"The conspiracy was witnessed during Delhi polls and BJP leaders gave hate speeches creating an atmosphere of fear and hatred," she said.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court rebuked Delhi police for not acting against those who incited violence. "These things would not have happened had police not allowed instigators to get away," the SC bench said.

The Delhi high court asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to advise the police commissioner on lodging of FIRs against three BJP leaders (Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma and Kapil Mishra) for hate speeches.

On Tuesday, the Delhi police struggled to check the rioters who ran amok on streets, burning and looting shops, pelting stones and thrashing people.

Localities like Chand Bagh, Bhajanpura, Gokulpuri, Maujpur, Kardampuri and Jaffrabad in north-east Delhi saw pitched battles between the pro-CAA and anti-CAA protestors. The violence, which started on Sunday after BJP leader Kapil Mishra called a gathering in favour of CAA, intensified on Tuesday, despite shored up security in the city in view of US President Donald Trump’s visit. The protesters withdrew from the site on Tuesday night.