Maujpur: Delhi Police head constable Ratan Lal was killed in clashes over CAA
Delhi Police officer Ratan Lal, who was killed in northeast Delhi on Monday during violent protests over the citizenship law, died of gunshot wounds, police sources said today. The 42-year-old officer was killed near Dayalpur Police Station by miscreants around noon, when the violence was at its peak.
It was earlier reported that Head Constable Ratan Lal had been killed in the stone throwing.
According to the results of an autopsy that was conducted at the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in Dilshad Gardens, the bullet that killed him entered from his left shoulder and was recovered during the procedure from his right shoulder.
The officer's body will be now be taken to his residence in Burari in north Delhi and then to his native village - Fathepur Tihwali in Rajasthan's Sikar district - where cremation is scheduled for tomorrow.
Residents of the village, who say cremation will not take place till certain assurances are given, have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They have asked for a government job for a family member and pension for his elderly parents.
Ratan Lal's body will be taken for cremation to his native village in Rajasthan
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was heckled when he went to visit Ratan Lal's family in Burari.
Horrific and unrelenting violence consumed northeast Delhi on Monday, leaving at least 13 people dead and over 150 injured. Shops were burnt and goons and miscreants armed with sticks and rods rampaged through the streets of the Bhajanpura, Chandbagh and Karawal Nagar areas, among others.
Government sources have said the violence appeared to have been "orchestrated" by some for publicity as it comes at a time when US President Donald Trump is visiting the country.
Mr Trump, who is making his first official visit to India, is expected to raise the issue of religious freedom in the country during his talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi today.
A tire market in northeast Delhi's Gokulpuri was set on fire on Monday night
Meanwhile fresh violence hit northeast Delhi this morning.
In Maujpur, where more stone throwing has been reported, a group of people travelling in an e-rickshaw were thrashed and looted of their valuables. Stone-throwing has also been reported from the Kardampuri area, where, according to news agency IANS, locals said four bullets were fired by an unidentified person.
"The situation is very tense. We are continuously receiving calls related to incidents of violence from northeast Delhi," Delhi Police said in a statement.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, under whose ministry Delhi Police operates, called for peace, as did Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Government sources have ruled out calling the army - Rapid Action teams and paramilitary forces were deployed Monday - saying adequate forces were available.
Ratan Lal joined Delhi Police in 1998. He is survived by Poonam, his wife (they were married in Jaipur in 2004), and three children - Siddhi, 13, Kanak, 10, and Ram, 8 - are devastated.
"He was reader of the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) of Gokulpuri. He had just accompanied the ACP, but the mob surrounded him and killed him," Dinesh Lal, his younger brother, said.
According to Ratan Lal's acquaintances, he was a peace-loving person and would never get involved in any fight or argument.
"His behaviour and language were never like that of a policeman," Hiralal, an Assistant Sub-Inspector who had worked with Ratan Lal for almost three years, said.
With input from IANS