Trilokpuri: prohibitory orders relaxed

New Delhi: Prohibitory orders on the gathering and movement of people in Delhi's Trilokpuri area following communal clashes were relaxed for six hours Wednesday as no fresh violence was reported, police said.

"The situation in the area is presently calm. The relaxation was from 12 noon to 6 p.m. today (Wednesday)," Joint Commissioner of Police Sanjay Beniwal told IANS.

"Relaxation in prohibitory orders was given till 6 p.m. considering the Chhath puja as people leave their houses around 4 p.m.," he said.

The prohibitory orders were Tuesday relaxed for three hours from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

People were Wednesday morning allowed to venture out of their houses to buy milk, vegetables and other essential food items.

All shops opened just after the relaxation in prohibitory orders.

Long queues of people were seen outside grocery shops, chemist shops, Safal outlets and Mother Dairy kiosks.

Many groups of women and men ventured out of their houses between 3.30 p.m. and 4 p.m. and gathered near two parks in Block 35 and 36 to offer Chhath Puja.

They prepared makeshift ponds in the parks and performed the rituals like in the past.

"As the whole celebration was in the presence of police, we enjoyed our puja rituals," Amrita, a 43-year-old resident, told IANS.

Pratibha, another 30-year-old woman devotee, said: "We did not feel any obstacle while performing Chhath puja but police were reminding us through loudspeakers to go back home before 6 p.m. as the relaxation in prohibitory orders would end at that time."

A recce was again done Wednesday through an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone to assure if people still have bricks, stones and glass bottles collected in their houses.

The UAV was Tuesday deployed to monitor rooftops for bricks and glass bottles in the troubled area and it helped police recover a huge quantity of such items from many houses during raids.

"The drones also helped police seize weapons Tuesday," the police official said.

Delhi Police officials Wednesday again met clerics of both the Hindu and Muslim communities to keep the situation calm.

Two groups of Hindus and Muslims had clashed on Diwali Oct 23 after which the authorities imposed prohibitory orders banning illegal gatherings.

"So far, 67 people have been arrested in connection with the clashes," Beniwal said, adding that the arrests were made based on photographic and video evidence available with police.

Irfan, one of the five key accused responsible for igniting the violence, was arrested Monday night.

A hunt for the remaining four - Mobin, Asif, Tariq and Jafar - was still on.

Trilokpuri, divided into 36 blocks, is being manned by over 1,000 security personnel from Delhi Police, Rapid Action Force and Central Reserve Police Force along with over 30 police vans, water cannons and riot control vehicles.