india

Updated: Feb 25, 2020 06:02 IST

At least five persons were killed and over 75 injured in Monday’s clashes in north-east Delhi between groups that opposed and those that backed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Among the dead were four civilians who had suffered bullet injuries, and a police head constable had suffered severe head injuries due to stone pelting. Many of the wounded too were shot at.

Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) hospital in Dilshad Garden received the most patients. The bodies too were kept in its mortuary. Autopsies will be conducted on Tuesday after their respective families give consent.

At least 57 of those injured were brought to the hospital too, stretching its emergency ward’s capacity on Monday night, so much so that doctors were unable to give an exact count of patients and those who were in a critical condition.

Many people brought to the hospital had suffered bullet wounds and blunt injuries due to stone-pelting.

A few had also sustained shrapnel injuries from tear-gas shells fired by the police. One person suffered burn injuries to the upper body due to a Molotov cocktail.

“So far, five people have died in the clashes. One was a police constable who succumbed to a severe head injury, and the other four had suffered bullet injuries,” said one of the senior doctors present in the hospital emergency, on condition of anonymity.

“The constable had probably been hit with a stone or lathi,” said another hospital official, on condition of anonymity.

Security at the ward’s entrance ensured that only those who were injured were allowed in.

Twenty-four-year-old Rohit Kumar Shukla was one of the first ones to be brought to the hospital with a bullet injury to his left thigh. “My son repairs water filters,” said his father Rakesh Kumar Shukla. “He was out for work when he stopped to listen to the Hanuman Chalisa being recited at a temple. Suddenly, a group of 10 or 15 boys came and started firing. He was shot twice in his thigh, but the bullets exited. The doctors are just evaluating the x-rays to see whether he needs surgery.”

Mohd Irfan, 27, lives next door to a person who died in Monday’s clashes. He was at a cyber cafe that he runs in Maujpur when he was hit by a tear gas shell in his left eye. “The police was firing tear gas to control the protesters and something came and hit me right in the eye. The doctors are saying that I might lose sight in the eye. I also needed a few stitches on my nose,” he said.

Twenty-three-year-old Devdas was on his way to work when he was hit and suffered burn injuries. “The injuries look like it was a petrol bomb thrown at him,” a doctor said.

“I suddenly got a call from him saying that he was being taken to GTB hospital in an ambulance. He told me that someone may have thrown acid on him, ,” said his mother Mithilesh.

Dilshad, a patient, from Shiv Vihar was attacked with sticks in Khajuri Khas. He was dragged from an autorickshaw along with four other persons and beaten. He was rushed to the hospital from where he was referred to GTB hospital.

Another severely injured person, Rajesh Kumar, had been hit by stones in Bhajanpura by an angry mob while on his way to his home. He had sustained injuries to his nose and right eye.

A police head constable, Mohammad Salim, was also brought to the hospital with fractures to the fingers of right hand, as well as to the left wrist. “I was trying to save a group of small kids trapped between two groups of protesters. I along with other police personnel managed to save the kids but I got hurt,” said Salim, who was on duty to control the mob near Bhajanpura, where an angry mob has set a petrol pump on fire.

Another six policemen have been admitted to Max hospital, Patparganj, including Shahadara DCP Amit Sharma, who sustained head injury.

“Max Hospital, Patparganj received 6 policemen with injuries sustained in civic unrest in parts of Delhi. Four patients are undergoing treatment at the hospital, while two others have been discharged after treatment,” said a statement from the hospital.

At the nearby Jag Parvesh Chander hospital, around 12 people had been brought in, most with minor injuries.

“A couple of people had suffered fractures and one had burn injuries. The rest mostly had cuts and bruises,” said Adarsh Kumar, medical superintendent of the hospital.