A 43-year-old Nigerian national died after allegedly being hit on the head by a policeman in West Delhi’s Tilak Nagar on Sunday.
The man, Leohand Lyeanyi, used to live in Krishna Puri of Tilak Nagar area, a senior police officer said.
The police also allegedly stabbed the deceased’s friend, identified as Obilly, in his stomach.
Following the death, tensions persisted in the area as Nigerians gathered outside the Tilak Nagar Police Station. Police personnel in large numbers have been deployed to control the situation.
The police said that the Nigerian nationals broke glass at DDU Hospital. They attacked local people on the road. When officials from the High Commission of Nigeria came to meet them, they were also assaulted by a violent mob and their vehicle was vandalised.
The family members of Lyeanyi have alleged that he died after being hit by the police.
On the other hand, the police said that the deceased was not hit by them and there was no fresh external injury on the body.
A senior police officer said they received information about Lyeanyi’s death at around 3.30 a.m. on Sunday from the DDU Hospital.
Two cases have been registered against the violent mob, police said, adding that a probe is on in the matter.
“Earlier today, three Nigerian citizens were stopped by Delhi Police officials for verification in the Tilak Nagar area. While being asked to show their ID proof, the three immediately ran away and the policemen ran after them. Their families later alleged that he died because of a lathi injury,” the police added
The Delhi Police is examining the CCTV footage and the actual cause of death after the postmortem report.
The protesters are demanding to jointly see the CCTV footage of the incident but the police has refused to release it, as at the time of filing this report.