Delhi: Stir over CAA intensifies as Police use water cannons in clash with protesters

The situation in parts of the national capital on Friday intensified as Delhi Police used water cannons on anti-CAA protesters in Old Delhi area. 

Hundreds of anti-CAA protesters thronged Old Delhi's Jama Masjid area today where Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad led a massive rally against the new citizenship law earlier in the day. 

The protest in the evening intensified as protesters - who were marching from Old Delhi to Jantar Mantar - were blocked by the police near Delhi Gate.

A police vehicle was reportedly torched in Daryaganj area by protesters. 

The stir over anti-Citizenship Amendment Act continues in the national capital with Section 144 imposed in some parts and internet blockages in many areas. 

The entry and exit at more than 15 stations of the Delhi Metro have also been closed to avoid movement of people and protesters in and around Delhi's strategic locations. 

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Friday closed the entry and exit gates of Rajiv Chowk, Kashmere Gate, Central Secretariat, Janpath, Mandi House, Pragati Maidan, Khan Market, Dilshad Garden, Shiv Vihar and Johri Enclave on the instructions of security agencies. 

Earlier today, the DMRC had closed the Jama Masjid, Delhi Gate, Jaffrabad, Maujpur-Babarpur, and Jamia Millia Islamia metro stations.

The entry and exit gates of some of the metro stations were shut as a precautionary measure due to the protests at various places against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The Act seeks to grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.