Life limps back to normal, school to remain shut till March 7 in N-E Delhi
New Delhi: Some signs of normalcy returned to riot-hit areas of north-east Delhi on Saturday as people stepped out of their homes to buy groceries and medicines from a few shops that opened amid intensified patrolling by security personnel.
However, keeping students safety in consideration in any event of an untoward incident, officials said schools will remain closed in north-east Delhi till March 7.
The annual exams have also been postponed since the situation is not conducive for conducting examinations in the violence-affected areas, they said.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), however, maintained that board exams for classes 10 and 12 will be conducted as per schedule from March 2.
Since early Saturday morning, civic workers were seen clearing roads of bricks, glass shards and burnt vehicles in the aftermath of the violence that left 42 dead and over 300 injured. At some places, even bulldozers were used as it became difficult to manually remove debris. In Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Yamuna Vihar, Chand Bagh, Mustafabad and Bhajanpura, which were among the areas worst hit by the communal violence, there were more vehicles and people on the roads than in the last five days.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police have registered 167 FIRs and arrested or detained 885 people in connection with the violence. Thirty-six of the cases were registered under the Arms Act, the police said.
The police have lodged 13 cases for provocative social media posts on various sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Several social media accounts and web links involved in the circulation of unlawful, offensive content have been suspended through the platforms concerned, the senior police officer said.
Sources said the Delhi government is considering to issue a WhatsApp number for people to report circulation of provocative messages and take complaints on those spreading rumours.
At the Guru Tegh Bahadur (GTB) Hospital people are still frantically searching for their loved ones, either in the casualty ward or at the mortuary.
