3 more arrested in connection with assault on African nationals in Delhi

New Delhi: Three more persons were arrested today in connection with the cases of assault on African nationals which took place in south Delhi's Mehrauli area last week, leaving at least six persons injured.

The three arrested have been identified as Ranjit (25), Naveen (24) and Vikas (28), all residents of Rajpur Khurd village in Mehrauli.

"With this, all eight accused persons involved in the matter have been arrested," Additional DCP (South) Nupur Prasad said.

While the injured persons -- comprising men from Nigeria and Cameroon and women from Uganda, Cameroon and South Africa -- had alleged that the attacks were racial, police had attributed two of the incidents to fallout of arguments over loud music and drinking in public.

Four separate cases of causing hurt, wrongful confinement and criminal intimidation were registered in connection with the incidents, which the police claimed had no links with one another.

These incidents took place a week after a Congolese youth was murdered in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj area. While two accused involved in the murder have been arrested, one is still at large.

A 51-year-old cab driver was allegedly thrashed and robbed of cash in the wee hours yesterday by a group of African nationals in the same area where the alleged assaults took place last week.

A 26-year-old woman from Rwanda has been arrested in connection with the matter, five others are still absconding. The series of incidents has prompted Delhi Police to appoint a Joint Commissioner-rank official as the nodal officer for attending to issues concerning people from African nations living in the city and launch an exclusive helpline for them.

Earlier in the day, a group of African students in the city called off a demonstration to protest the string of assaults on some of the members of their community after the government assured them of better security.

The students said they had a meeting with officials of the Ministry of External Affairs where they were assured of security and safety. The government officials also requested them not to go ahead with their planned protest at Jantar Mantar.

Ratcheting up efforts to contain the damage over attacks on African nationals, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today announced a slew of steps including a country-wide sensitisation campaign even as she asserted that the killing of a Congolese youth was not a "racial crime".