Standing outside Daryaganj police station, Mohammad Salim looks anxiously through the iron gates as he awaits news about his son-in-law Irfan, who had come to drop his pregnant wife at her parents' place in the walled city but ended up behind bars.
Irfan was among the 15 people who were arrested after violence erupted during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act near Delhi Gate here, with protesters pelting stones at police.
"He (Irfan) had come to drop his pregnant wife, my daughter, and while returning to his home in Khazoori Khas he stopped at a mosque to offer namaz," 53-year-old Salim, a garment trader, told PTI on Saturday.
He said police have not allowed him to meet his son-in-law.
"They (police) have not let us talk to him and we have been told that the arrested people have been taken to Tis Hazari Court," he said.
Salim isn't alone. The family members of others who were arrested have also gathered outside the police station, waiting to hear about their loved ones.
Mukim, 30, says he saw his father, Ashfaq, being detained by police on television.
"My father, who is aged 60, works at a welding shop in the area. He had come out after hearing the commotion. I saw two policemen taking him away on TV channels," he said.
Ashfaq's wife, Acchi Bi, questioned the police action.
"You tell me how it is fair for anyone to hit or arrest a 60-year-old person. It can't be that (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi is not seeing all this, what is he doing," she asked.
According to police, initially 10 people were arrested in connection with the violence in Daryaganj, but later five more were held.
Those arrested have been charged with rioting and using force to deter policemen from doing their duty, they said.
Also among those arrested is Furqaan, a resident of Nehru Vihar. He had come to Daryaganj to buy machinery for his welding shop in Ashok Vihar.
Furqaan's cousin, Irshad Saifi, who has been waiting outside the police station since last night, claimed the police action is an eyewash.
"They (police) have arrested people just to show that they are doing something," Saifi said.
During the protest on Friday evening, the protesters had also set afire a private car parked in Subhash Marg area. The fire was immediately doused, according to police.
Asked who the car belonged to, a source pointed to the office of the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) next door and said, "It belonged to someone from there".
A guard at the DCP's office refused to divulge details but said "it could be of a police officer".
Later in the day, a local court sent the 15 people arrested in connection with the violence to two days' judicial custody.
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