The Delhi police control room in the northeast district, an area which has seen rioting between Hindus and Muslims, received as many as 225 calls per hour as the clashes were at their peak on Monday and Tuesday, police officials said.
According to police, most of the calls were received in the areas of Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, which has been witnessing some of the worst riots in the history of the nation's capital.
Data provided by the Delhi police shows that the number of calls received on both the days topped 10,800, reporting incidents of violence, arson, vandalism, assault and stone-throwing during the rioting.
A senior police official stated that some 3,300 calls were received on Monday, while over 7,500 were received on Tuesday from the northwest district alone.
“On an average we receive around 3,000 to 4,000 distress calls from across the city. But if you break down the numbers of the last two days from just the northeast district, you’ll know that over three calls were received every minute. The staff was working at war level,” noted a senior police official who did not wish to be named.
As many as 27 people have died, while over 270 people are said to have been injured in violence reported from neighborhoods including Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Chandbagh. During the violence, widespread stone-throwing, petrol bombing and guns were fired, according to reports. Agitators damaged public property, religious places and set houses and shops ablaze, causing in security forces using tear gas and batons to disperse demonstrators.
Many in the area had left their homes to aseek quieter areas of the city, waiting until the violence died down.
“I have been living in this area from the last 27 years but have never witnessed anything of this sort. Ever since the violence started I had to send my wife and 12-year-old kid to my relatives house so that they are safe while I had locked myself inside and could only hear bullets being fired and mob attacking and burning down shops in the area,” said Krishan Lal, a resident of the Maujpur area.
A Delhi police officer detailed that every member of the departmental staff worked heavy shifts during the two days.
