Delhi Cop Who Died In CAA Clashes Was Shot Dead, Autopsy Reveals

New Delhi: 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 northeast Delhi and cremation will take place at his native village in Rajasthan.

Horrific and unrelenting violence consumed northeast Delhi on Monday, leaving at least seven people dead and over a 100 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.

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.

A resident of Fathepur Tihwali village in Rajasthan's Sikar district, 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 and image from ndtv.com)