Manish Sisodia blames 'dirty politics' for burning of buses, demands investigation; cops were dousing flames, says police official

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Monday demanded an investigation into the incident on Sunday in which buses were set on fire in Delhi, as protests against the amended Citizenship Act continued.

Sharing images from his Twitter account, Sisodia alleged that police set fire to the buses in south Delhi on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) direction.

“See this photo. See who is setting buses and cars on fire. This photo is the biggest proof of the BJP’s pathetic politics. Can BJP leaders respond to this?” Sisodia tweeted in Hindi.

इस बात की तुरंत निष्पक्ष जाँच होनी चाहिए कि बसों में आग लगने से पहले ये वर्दी वाले लोग बसों में पीले और सफ़ेद रंग वाली केन से क्या डाल रहे है.. ?
और ये किसके इशारे पर किया गया?

फ़ोटो में साफ़ दिख रहा है कि बीजेपी ने घटिया राजनीति करते हुए पुलिस से ये आग लगवाई है. https://t.co/8eaKitnhei

— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) December 15, 2019

Protests by students of the Jamia Millia Islamia University took a turn for the worse on Sunday when clashes erupted between the police and protesters. “There should be an impartial investigation into the violence that erupted during the protest against the amended Citizenship Act,” the deputy chief minister said in a tweet in Hindi.

He demanded that an investigation finds out who the uniformed people were in the pictures shared by him and what they were putting in the buses from the yellow and white-coloured cans they were holding in their hands. “At whose behest was this done? It is clearly seen in the photo that the police has started this fire on orders from the BJP, which is indulging in dirty politics,” Sisodia’s tweet said.

Schools in South East Delhi, including private and government schools in Jamia Nagar, Okhla, New Friends Colony and Madanpur Khadar, remained shut on Monday.

Delhi Police Additional PRO Anil Mittal denied the allegations and said “personnel were dousing flames and putting water on the bus”, The Indian Express reported.