Home Minister Amit Shah took a review meeting of the prevailing situation in the capital and noted that there had been no major incident in the last 36 hours.
More than 500 people have been detained or arrested and 48 FIRs registered in connection with the Northeast Delhi violence even as 7,000 paramilitary personnel have been deployed to maintain calm, the Home Ministry said Thursday.
Home Minister Amit Shah took a review meeting of the prevailing situation in the capital and noted that there had been no major incident in the last 36 hours. The meeting was attended by Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Delhi Police chief Amulya Patnaik and Special CP S N Srivastava.
The Home Minister also made an appeal to citizens not to believe in rumours and said it was the responsibility of Delhi Police to protect people from all communities. “Shah appealed to citizens not to fall prey to the evil designs of miscreants and groups interested in precipitating communal tension… Delhi Police is mandated and obligated to provide security to all sections of society irrespective of caste and religion,” said an MHA statement.
The Ministry also said after the meeting that “only 12 police stations” had been affected and the rest of Delhi was peaceful.
“Only 12 police stations out of the 203 in Delhi (about 4.2% of the geographical area) have been affected by these riots, while normalcy and communal harmony has prevailed elsewhere in the national capital,” it said.
The meeting also proposed to lift prohibitory orders under Section 144 for 10 hours on Friday given the improvement in the situation, MHA said.
“Police have detained/arrested 514 suspects for questioning so far. Further arrests would be effected in the course of investigation. Delhi Police has separately set up two SITs for investigating serious offences. Nearly 7,000 central paramilitary forces have been deployed in the affected areas of Northeast district since February 24,” it said.
Apart from this, it said, Delhi Police has deployed three Special CPs, six Joint CPs, one Additional CP, 22 DCPs, 20 ACPs, 60 Inspectors, 1,200 officers of other ranks and 200 women police under the overall supervision of Commissioner of Police to effectively guide and supervise police response so as to contain and normalise the situation. The Ministry said 35 persons have lost their lives in these tragic incidents since February 24 but added that the situation was slowly returning to normal. “Citizens are requested not to lay credence to any rumour. Delhi Police has set up helplines — 22829334 and 22829335 — for round-the-clock assistance. These numbers are being given adequate publicity so that information about miscreants and any emerging situation may be conveyed to police,” MHA said.
According to MHA, while two security personnel have died, nearly 70 are injured. “As a confidence-building measure among different sections of society, Delhi Police has started holding peace committee meetings to normalise situation and improve inter-community harmony,” it said.