• Source:JND
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Delhi Police has arrested 22 protesters on charges of assaulting government officers on duty on Monday, November 24. According to the police, the protesters, while protesting over toxic air, allegedly used chilli spray on personnel deployed at the India Gate. 

Officials clarified that arrests were made after the protest escalated into a scuffle, which left multiple officers injured, prompting an immediate legal action for assault on government servants. 

"We tried to explain to them that emergency vehicles were stuck and needed clear access, but they refused to move. The situation then turned into a scuffle, and some protesters used chilli powder on our personnel, which is unusual and rare," a senior police officer said, quoted PTI. The police officer added that the protesters had gathered near the C-Hexagon. The demonstrators were informed that the location was obstructing vehicular movement, particularly the movement of ambulances, which necessitated the police's removal of the protesters. 

This turned the entire situation into a scuffle. “The situation then turned into a scuffle, and some protesters used chilli powder which is unusual and rare,” a police officer said. As a result of this scuffle, three to four police personnel suffered injuries to their eyes and faces. The injured officers are undergoing care at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

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Delhi Pollution Protest

According to news agency PTI, the protest was organised by the Delhi Coordination Committee for Clean Air owing to the worsening air quality in the capital city. 

The group said that the city’s deplorable air quality is becoming a ‘serious risk’ to public health and alleged that the authorities have failed to address the problem properly. The committee further said that the authorities have failed to address the root causes of pollution.

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Additionally, the group alleged that the government is trying to mask the ‘severe’ air quality by relying on ‘cosmetic’ measures such as water sprinklers, cloud seeding and spraying near Air Quality Index (AQI) stations instead of finding long-term solutions to tackle the issue.

The group added, "When the state makes the air itself poisonous, it becomes necessary for people to unite and raise their voices for their own survival."

(With inputs from PTI)

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