Communal violence escalates, toll mounts to 13, over 200 injured in northeast Delhi

Communal violence over the amended citizenship law escalated in northeast Delhi on Tuesday taking the death toll to 13 as police struggled to check the rioters who ran amok on streets, burning and looting shops, pelting stones and thrashing people.

After overnight incidents of arson, tension smouldered in the national capital and as the day progressed streets in several localities like Chand Bagh, Bhajanpura, Gokulpuri, Maujpur, Kardampuri and Jaffrabad saw pitched battles between the members of two groups who also hurled petrol bombs and opened fire.

Late in the night, locals in Maujpur area claimed that announcements were being made by police on loudspeakers about promulgation of shoot-at-sight orders, but Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast) Ved Prakash Surya denied it.

Over 200 people, including 48 police personnel, have been injured and half of the civilians have suffered gunshot wounds, hospital authorities said.

The violence, which started on Sunday after anti-CAA protests