"Enough Forces On Ground In Delhi, No One Needs To Fear": NSA Ajit Doval

There are enough forces on the ground and no one needs to fear, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval told NDTV after he took stock of the situation in a part of Delhi that saw unrelenting violence over citizenship law protests since Sunday. The clashes have killed 21 and at least 200 injured. Ajit Doval has been put in charge of restoring normalcy in the violence-hit parts of Delhi.

Mr Doval, who visited areas affected by the violence late Tuesday night, said "no law-abiding citizen would be harmed anyway by anyone".

"People were doubting the capabilities and intentions of Delhi Police. This needs to addressed. People need to trust the man in uniform," Mr Doval told NDTV. Delhi Police has been heavily criticised for apparent inaction when the violence unfolded and for deploying inadequate forces on the ground.

Mr Doval visited violence-hit areas such as Seelampur, Jaffrabad, Maujpur and Gokulpuri Chowk in northeast Delhi to take stock of the law and order situation and met with top police officers.

"A certain amount of insecurity was there in citizens. We want to dispel sense of fear from all communities," Mr Doval said, attempting  to reach out to the minority communities.

"Tough action would be taken against all miscreants. No one can roam around with gun in hand on streets of Delhi," he said.

The move to put Mr Doval in charge of restoring peace in northeast Delhi has raised eyebrows since Delhi Police reports directly to Home Minister Amit Shah.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today appealed for "peace and brotherhood", and said he has held an extensive review of the situation in various parts of the national capital.

Peace and harmony are central to our ethos. I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Delhi to maintain peace and brotherhood at all times. It is important that there is calm and normalcy is restored at the earliest.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 26, 2020

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today tweeted that the "army should be called in and curfew imposed in the rest of affected areas immediately". He said he will write to Mr Shah about this.

I have been in touch wid large no of people whole nite. Situation alarming. Police, despite all its efforts, unable to control situation and instil confidence

Army shud be called in and curfew imposed in rest of affected areas immediately

Am writing to Hon'ble HM to this effect

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 26, 2020

On Tuesday, the Home Ministry had earlier said the situation was under control even as the number of people killed in the violence kept rising during the day. Ruling out deployment of the army to end violence, it had said enough police and paramilitary personnel were on the ground.

With the violence spiraling on Tuesday, Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a meeting with cops and officials on Tuesday evening, his third in 24 hours. The meeting was also attended by top IPS officer SN Srivastava, who was appointed as the special police commissioner on Tuesday