by Peerzada Arshad Hamid
NEW DELHI, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in violent clashes over the controversial citizenship law rose to nine in Indian capital New Delhi on Tuesday, officials said.
Over 150 people are reported to be injured in the violence.
The clashes broke out between pro- and anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) groups in the northeastern part of the city on Monday.
"Today four persons have been brought dead at the hospital and on Monday five deaths took place," a health official at Guru Teg Bahadur hospital said.
Police officials so far have only confirmed seven deaths including that of a policeman.
The situation in the northeastern part of the city was tense and clashes, vandalism and arson kept pouring in throughout the day.
Authorities said they have deployed enough forces to contain the situation. However, reports said mobs armed with sticks and rods were on streets in Bhajanpura, Chand Bagh and Karawal Nagar localities.
India's federal home minister Amit Shah convened a meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the security situation in Delhi.
The latest violence began after Kapil Mishra, a leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), warned police to clear the protests' site. In a video posted by Mishra on twitter, he was heard issuing an ultimatum to the police officials to remove anti-CAA sit-ins in the area.
The violence came hours before visiting U.S. President Donald Trump was scheduled to arrive in Delhi. Trump on Monday arrived in India on his two-day visit and is currently in the capital.
Police have imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code, a government order which prohibits assembly of more than four persons in public places, at 10 locations in the northeast district of Delhi.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal along with his deputy on Tuesday visited hospitals to meet victims and urged for calm.
Protests against the controversial new citizenship law broke out in December last year, after India's upper house of parliament passed the law.
The law aims at granting citizenship to illegal immigrants belonging to six religions - Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Parsi and Christianity - from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, it has kept out Muslim immigrants from applying for citizenship.
Opposition parties and civil society members in India have criticized the law as contrary to secular principles enshrined in India's constitution as it excludes Muslims.
So far, the violence against the law has killed over 30 people across India.
Over 140 petitions challenging the new citizenship law have been filed in the country's Supreme Court.
