Fears of bloodbath: Muslim and Hindu gangs kill 33

Violence hit parts of Delhi overnight as gangs roamed streets littered with the debris of days of sectarian riots that have killed 33 people, police said Thursday.   

Thousands of riot police and paramilitaries patrolled the affected northeast fringes of the Indian capital of 20 million people, preventing any major eruptions.   

The unrest is the latest bout of violence over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s citizenship law, which triggered months of demonstrations that turned deadly in December. 

 
Sunil Kumar, director of the Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital, said Thursday the hospital registered 30 deaths while the chief doctor at Lok Nayak Hospital said three people had died there.   

The new fatalities - up from 27 on Wednesday - were all from the violence on Monday and Tuesday when mobs of Hindus and Muslims fought running battles.   

The initial violence erupted late Sunday. Groups armed with swords and guns set fire to thousands of properties and vehicles.   

Homes, shops, two mosques, two schools, a tyre market and a fuel station were torched.   

More than 200 people were also injured.In December at least 30 people were killed, mostly in police action in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, home to a significant Muslim population, after the citizenship law was passed.  
Delhi, (Daily Mail), 27 February 2020

A group of men chanting pro-Hindu slogans, beat Mohammad Zubair, 37, a Muslim, during protests sparked by a new citizenship law  

Judge hearing petition into riots transferred

As the wounded were brought to hospitals on Thursday, the focus shifted on the overnight transfer of Justice S. Muralidhar, a Delhi High Court judge who was hearing a petition into the riots and had criticized government and police inaction on Wednesday.