Delhi riots: Nearly 10 police officers injured, 22 suspects arrested

A day after the communal violence during a Hanuman Jayanti procession in northwest Delhi's Jahangirpuri, Delhi Police arrested 22 suspects and roped in the crime branch to investigate the 'larger conspiracy' behind the riots, Report informs, citing Indian media.

The suspects were arrested on charges of rioting and criminal conspiracy, among others, following the incident on Saturday night, said senior police officer Usha Rangnani, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

At least nine people, including eight police officers, were injured and were being treated in hospitals, Rangnani said.

Authorities say Hindu and Muslim groups in Jahangirpuri, a neighborhood in northwest New Delhi, threw stones at each other during a religious procession celebrating the birth of the Hindu god Hanuman on Saturday night. Police were investigating the incident, and it remains unclear what sparked the violence.

It was the worst violence in New Delhi since 2020, when 53 people died in large-scale communal unrest amid tensions over a controversial citizenship law that excluded Muslims.