New Delhi : Several people sustained minor injuries following a clash  between pro and anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protesters near northeast Delhi’s Jaffarabad area on Sunday. The police lobbed teargas shells and resorted to mild lathi-charge to bring the situation under control. Later in the evening, the police took out a flag march to maintain law and order in the area.

 The clash took place at about 4 pm when the two groups started throwing stones at each other. All this happened in the presence of heavy police deployment in the area. Witnesses said that 500-odd people, mostly women, had gathered to protest against the new citizenship law. The protesters had also gathered in the area on Saturday night demanding that the new law be taken back.

As the anti-CAA group was shouting slogans against the new citizenship law, some people turned up shouting “Jai Sri Ram” slogans. “Suddenly, some people came and started throwing stones on the people gathered in the area,” an eyewitness told this newspaper. Soon, both the groups  indulged in stone throwing, forcing the police to resort to lathi-charge. The police also lobbed teargas shells to disperse the crowd.

The trouble escalated further after BJP leader Kapil Mishra also decided to hold a rally in favour of the new citizenship law.

 Mr  Mishra, who  arrived near the Jaffrabad Metro Station at about 3 pm, demanded that the anti-CAA protesters  be removed from the road. An hour later, some people came from a nearby street and started pelting stones.

Tension prevailed in the area as the protesters had blocked the  road near the Jaffrabad metro station connecting Seelampur with Maujpur and Yamuna Vihar.

This was the second day when the anti-CAA protesters had hit the streets, prompting Delhi Metro authorities to close the entry and exit gates of the Jaffarabad station. Later in the day, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) also closed the entry and exit gates to the Maujpur-Babarpur station.

A woman, who identified herself as Bushra, had said that till the time the CAA is not revoked, the protesters would not leave the site. Social activist Faheem Baig  said there is resentment among people over the way the government was handling the issue.

“This protest is against CAA, NRC and also seeking reservation for Dalits. The movement is primarily led by the women, while the men are only supporting them,” a protester named Shadab said. “We have blocked the road in order to protest and we will not move from the site till the Centre revokes the draconian law,” he said.

In the evening Alok Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Police (Eastern Range) said that stones were also pelted at the police. “The situation has been brought under control. Adequate personnel have been deployed and are conducting flag marches.”

 Taking to twitter, Mr  Mishra said, “We have given a three-day ultimatum to the Delhi Police to get the road cleared. Get the Jafrabad and Chandbagh road cleared”.

 In a video tweeted by him where he can be seen addressing the gathering, Mr Mishra said, “They (protestors) want to create trouble in Delhi. That’s why they have closed the roads. That’s why they have created a riot-like situation here. We have not pelted any stone.

 “Till US President is in India, we are leaving the area peacefully. After that we won’t listen to you (police) if the roads are not vacated by then,” he told the gathering.

The fresh sit-in protest comes at a time when efforts are being made to negotiate with the protesters at Shaheen Bagh whose agitation has resulted in traffic snarls along the Delhi-Noida route. A small stretch of the road closed for over two months was “opened” by a group of demonstrators on Saturday, though police barricades continued on one side.