Media caption Inside Delhi’s night of horror Rioting has continued in Delhi for the third consecutive night, with reports of Muslim homes and shops being targeted by violent mobs.
Twenty people have been killed so far in the deadliest violence the Indian capital has seen in decades.
The Clashes first broke out on Sunday between protesters for and against a controversial citizenship law.
But they have since taken on communal overtones, with reports of people being attacked based on their religion.
Photographs, videos and accounts on social media paint a chilling image of a city on the edge. There are reports of arson, of groups of men with sticks, iron rods and stones wandering the streets and of Hindus and Muslims facing off.
Both Hindus and Muslims are among the dead. Some 189 people are injured, according to officials at the Guru Teg Bahadur hospital, where many of them have been admitted.
BBC reporters at the hospital say they saw people with all sorts of injuries, including bullet wounds, scrambling for treatment. They say the hospital seemed “overwhelmed”, and many of the injured were “too scared to go back home”.
In a rare midnight hearing, the Delhi high court ordered the government and police to ensure that the injured were safely taken to the nearest hospitals that are equipped to treat them.
Justices S Muralidhar and AJ Bhambhani were responding to a petition by doctors from various local hospitals.
Eyewitnesses have Several members of the mob were carrying guns and there are reports of shots being fired from rooftops. Hospital officials also confirmed that many of the injured have gun shot wounds.
The violence is centered on Muslim-majority neighborhoods in north-east Delhi – such as Maujpur, Mustafabad, Jaffrabad and Shiv Vihar – just (km) miles) from the heart of the capital.
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