Delhi violence LIVE: 369 FIRs lodged, 1,284 people detained over riots

There were some areas of normalcy in the riot-hit localities of northeast Delhi with shops opening

2:24 PM

Death toll from Delhi violence rises to 42

1:55 PM

HC seeks Centre's response on plea for FIR against Gandhis, others for alleged hate speech

The Delhi High Court on Friday sought the response of the Centre, Delhi government and the police on pleas seeking FIRs against political leaders, including Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, for alleged hate speeches.

 

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar issued the notice to the Union Home Ministry, Delhi government and the police on the petition, which seeks FIRs against Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan, AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi and former AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan.

 

Apart from registration of FIRs, the petition by Lawyers Voice also seeks setting up of a special investigation team to look into the alleged hate speeches by all of them.

1:47 PM

Sonia Gandhi, please don't preach us 'rajdharma': BJP on Delhi violence, CAA

Your record is full of twists and turns, said BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad in a press conference.

1:33 PM

BJP accuses Congress of changing its stand on granting citizenship to persecuted minorities

1:30 PM

Home Minister Amit Shah made no such appeal for peace, says Kapil Sibal

Congress leader Kapil Sibal: Prime Minister Narendra Modi woke up after 69 hours and appealed for peace and calm in Delhi. He should have done it earlier. But Home Minister Amit Shah made no such appeal. The Home Minister should have visited the affected areas.

1:24 PM

BJP briefs media on Delhi violence

1:14 PM

Mahatma Gandhi's spirit needed more than ever: UN chief Guterres on Delhi violence

Expressing sadness over the violence in Delhi, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that Mahatma Gandhi's spirit is needed more than ever as it is essential to create conditions for a true community reconciliation.

 

Guterres has expressed sadness over the casualties following the protests in Delhi, and called for maximum restraint and for violence to be avoided, the UN chief's spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday.

 

"The Secretary-General has been following the situation in India and... concerning the violence closely and is saddened by the reports of deaths that we've seen over the past few days in New Delhi and again reiterates, as he's done in other places, his calls for maximum restraint and for violence to be avoided," Dujarric said.

 

Throughout his life, "the Secretary-General has been deeply inspired by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. And today the spirit of Gandhi is needed more than ever and it is essential to create conditions for true community reconciliation", he said.

1:13 PM

In Gokalpuri, Hindu family turns homeless as mob targets Muslim shops in their building

A Hindu family in Gokalpuri has been rendered homeless as they became victim of a mob fury targeted at some Muslim shops in their residential building.

 

The family of six, who are now forced to spend their days roaming in the streets and nights at a neighbour's house, had a harrowing experience on Tuesday as the three shops, owned by Muslims who don't reside in the building, on the ground floor of the two-storey structure were set on fire.

 

One of the family members, 20-year-old Karan, a daily wager, said the mob gathered in the streets and roads of Bhagirathi Vihar in Gokalpuri on Monday and Tuesday.

They started heavy stone-pelting on Tuesday evening, he said.

 

"I was on the first floor of our rented accommodation along with my 13-year-old sister. I got curious by the commotion outside and rushed to see what was happening. The locals tried to stop the mob but they torched three shops of Muslim tenants," he said.

 

The shops belonged to a junk dealer, a TV mechanic and a man who sharpens scissors.

1:11 PM

Death toll in Delhi violence climbs to 39

12:42 PM

BJP president Nadda avoids questions related to northeast Delhi violence

BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda avoided questions posed by the media here on Friday related to communal violence in northeast Delhi.

 

In an informal chat with media at former Himachal Pradesh chief minister and Congress veteran Virbhadra Singh's residence, Holly Lodge here, Nadda preferred to keep mum when a journalist queried about his reaction to the violence in Delhi.

 

Nadda went towards his vehicle without answering the question.

 

A total of 39 people have died so far while more than 200 have been injured after communal clashes broke out in the northeast part of the national capital on Monday.

11:03 AM

Senior IPS officer S N Shrivastava to be next Delhi police commissioner: MHA official

10:06 AM

Modi, Shah afraid of impartial probe in Delhi violence: Congress

The Congress has once again attacked the Centre on the issue of transfer of the Delhi High Court Judge, Justice S. Muralidhar, who was hearing the hate-speeches case against some BJP leaders.

 

Late Thursday Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal issued a statement, which said: "The decision to transfer the Judge is hardly surprising given the fact that, the BJP which had unashamedly instigated the mob and provided complete impunity to those who called for violence, took such a malicious decision under cover of darkness."

 

The Congress leader alleged that immediate and overnight transfer of Justice Muralidhar, of the Delhi High Court, "who highlighted the role played by certain BJP leaders in instigating the mob and directed the Delhi police to take urgent action is a clear proof of the discomfort on part of Shri Narendra Modi and Shri Amit Shah, over fears of an impartial investigation exposing their complicity in the Delhi riots."

9:03 AM

Dream unfulfilled: Awaiting birth of great grandchild, 85-yr-old woman burnt to death

Eighty-five-year-old Akbari was waiting eagerly for the birth of her great grandchild. But her dream of seeing the baby was cut short by a rampaging mob that set her house at Gamri village near Delhi's Khajuri Khas on fire, suffocating her to death.

 

One of her seven children Salmani, an exporter of ready made garments, said that he had gone out to get milk on Tuesday.

 

"While returning, I got a call from my son that a mob has surrounded our home with petrol bombs and sticks in hands. My mother, wife and three kids were on the second floor. I told them over phone to rush to the terrace," he said.

 

According to locals, the mob set the ground floor, which served as a godown, ablaze and threw petrol bombs at the second and third floor. "Ten of my labourers were on the ground floor at the time of the incident. They too rushed to the terrace. My son later noticed that my mother was missing and he tried to get down. But by then, the whole house was full of smoke. By the time they climbed down the terrace, she had passed away," Salmani said.

7:59 AM

Tahir Hussain charged with murder in Delhi violence, suspended by AAP

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Tahir Hussain was suspended from the primary membership of his party on Thursday evening, after he was charged with murder and arson in connection with the death of Ankit Sharma, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) employee found dead in one of the areas in northeast Delhi most affected by violence over citizenship law protests.

 

Mr Hussain will remain suspended until the charges against him are investigated and he is cleared, a tweet by Delhi's ruling AAP added.

7:46 AM

Locals distribute food to kin of Delhi violence injured admitted at GTB Hospital

Sending a message of brotherhood and social harmony, locals on Thursday distributed food to kin of those who were injured in the recent Delhi violence and recuperating at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital here.

 

"We are distributing food to help people who are coming here to meet or collect bodies of their relatives or a family member. People are also coming from Haryana. Locals leaving here have taken this initiative to help the people at their difficult times," Moosa Alvi, one of the organisers, told ANI.

 

 

"It is not sponsored by any political party. We are doing it on our own," he added.