Delhi Violence: IB Officer Ankit Sharma Found Dead In Chand Bagh Area

An Intelligence Bureau officer was killed by a mob in Delhi’s Chand Bagh area amid communal violence over the amended citizenship law. The officer has been identified as Ankit Sharma who was 26 years old.  The family was looking for him since Tuesday. Police have taken the body and sent it to GTB Hospital for post-mortem, according to reports. The death toll in northeast Delhi communal violence over the amended citizenship law rose to 20 on Wednesday.

According to GTB Hospital authorities, the number of injured now stands at 189, however, the situation at the hospital “seems to be settling”. Communal violence over the amended citizenship law had escalated in northeast Delhi on Tuesday as police struggled to check the rioters who ran amok on streets, burning and looting shops, pelting stones and thrashing people.

On Tuesday, the death toll was 13.

Delhi: Body of Intelligence Bureau Officer Ankit Sharma found in North East district's Chand Bagh area today. pic.twitter.com/WLDG0odk6P

— ANI (@ANI) February 26, 2020

After Monday night, incidents of arson, tension had smouldered in the national capital and on Tuesday, 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.

National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval late last night also took stock of the situation, sources said.

Meanwhile, in a midnight hearing, the Delhi High Court directed police to ensure safe passage and emergency treatment for those injured in the violence over the amended citizenship law. 

The hearing took place at the residence of Justice S Murlidhar on an urgent plea seeking safe passage for the injured to medical institutions with adequate facilities.

The Delhi High Court later also directed police to respond by 12:30 pm on Wednesday to a plea seeking lodging of FIRs and arrests of those involved in the ongoing communal violence in parts of northeast Delhi over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

(With PTI inputs)