Jahangirpuri residents 'caged', suffering due to restrictions, says TMC leader

Trinamool Congress MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar who led an all-women fact-finding team of the TMC to Jahangirpuri alleged residents of Jahangirpuri's C-Block, the epicentre of the April 16 violence, have been "caged" and are not allowed to come out, as per PTI.

New Delhi: The residents of northwest Delhi's Jahangirpuri are struggling to make ends meet and suffering due to the restrictions imposed in the area in the wake of the clashes last week, Trinamool Congress MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar claimed on Saturday (April 23).

Dastidar, who led an all-women fact-finding team of the TMC to Jahangirpuri on Friday, alleged residents of Jahangirpuri's C-Block, the epicentre of the April 16 violence, have been "caged" and are not allowed to come out. She told PTI that the team found that people are "under threat" and living in fear. They also complained of restricted access to water.

Clashes broke out between two communities during a Hanuman Jayanti procession in northwest Delhi's Jahangirpuri last Saturday, leaving eight police personnel and a local resident injured. According to police, there was stone-pelting and arson during the clashes and some vehicles were also torched.

All points of entry to the C-Block have been heavily barricaded and security has been beefed up following the clashes. Dastidar said the TMC team managed to enter Jahangirpuri despite the restrictions and spoke to many residents before being stopped by police.

"Residents of the C-Block have been caged. They could not come out and were also not allowed to speak to us. There were some children who helped us enter the residential area. Before the police stopped us, we had already met a number of families living there," she said.