INDIAN police have arrested over 514 people for deadly Hindu-Muslim violence that broke out in the capital, the government said.
Police said the toll from days of blood-letting stood at 47, but local media, citing unnamed sources, said it was likely to be more than 47 as the full extent of the violence that began on last Sunday (23) in a densely-packed locality in northeastern Delhi becomes clear.
Police are still searching drains and homes that were burnt down for bodies, officers said.
More forces had been deployed at mosques in the area for the weekly Friday (28) prayers, the government said. There had been no new violence since Wednesday (26) morning, it said in a statement late on Thursday (27).
The violence began over a citizenship law that prime minister Narendra Modi's government introduced in December providing a path to Indian citizenship for six religious groups from neighbouring countries, but not Muslims.
Critics say the law is discriminatory and comes on top of other measures such as withdrawal of autonomy for Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir.
Critics of the Indian government, however, blamed this week's violence on members of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was trounced in local Delhi elections at the beginning of the month. The BJP has denied the allegations.
Ultimately, the violence morphed into street battles between Hindu and Muslim groups with the police largely ineffective in controlling the situation.
'Sorting out the lack of social care in the community needs to be a priority'
Jasvinder Sanghera (Photo by Jon Bond - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Lord Kamlesh Patel
Lord Karan Bilimoria
Poppy Jaman
