A day after the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NMC) carried out a demolition drive in communal riot-hit Jahangirpuri, the area’s C block continued to wear a deserted look as several shops remained closed and residents preferred to stay indoors as tension prevailed in the locality.
There was heavy security deployment in the area including personnel of Delhi Police, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Reserved Armed Force (RAF).
Police also carried out surveillance of the area the entire day using drones. Over 500 police personnel and six companies of additional forces have been stationed and police teams with their riot gear, including tear gas munitions and shields have been maintaining law and order in the area since Thursday morning. The media and several politicians who came to meet the locals were not allowed to enter the area by the police.
Amid heavy security presence and barricading, the residents of C block were allowed to move in and out only after security clearance. Even the media was barred from entering the block’s residential area. Though students were seen going to schools in the morning, most of the other residents stayed home.
A shopkeeper, who did not wish to be named, said that this was the first time the area had witnessed so much unrest. “Earlier, we had celebrated each and every festival together. There was no Hindu or Muslim among the people; we have always stayed together no matter what,” he lamented.
“Since the last five days it has become hard to sustain my livelihood as my grocery shop is closed and it is the only source of livelihood for my family,” he said.
Another shopkeeper said that they had been living in Jahangirpuri for the last 15 years and they had never seen the area so tense. “For the last five days, we have been unable to open our shops properly, which has affected our earning. Before this incident there was no discrimination on the basis of caste and religion, we all live here like a family and I hope that the situation gets back to normal as soon as possible,” he said. A few shops opened in the afternoon in G block which is meters way from the violence-hit area. Though the police has barricaded the entire block the residents were seen moving about and spending time in their lanes.
Though the movement of residents is restricted at C Block, a man was seen pasting documents over the shutter of his shop at Kushal Chowk. The shopkeeper was stopped by the police and asked to return to his residence. Replying to the policemen, the shopkeeper said he was concerned about the shop getting bulldozed and hence he was pasting the papers. The police officials present in the area confirmed that CCTVs have been installed in view of the sensitive situation. On Wednesday, the BJP-ruled NMC's bulldozers razed several "illegal" structures in violence-hit Jahangirpuri during an anti-encroachment drive. But it was stopped following a Supreme Court order. Clashes erupted between two communities during a Hanuman Jayanti procession in Jahangripuri on Saturday with both Hindus and Muslims accusing each other of triggering the violence. At least nine people, eight of them police personnel, were injured during the clashes.