Chandrashekhar Azad in custody after giving police the slip at Jama Masjid

New Delhi: Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad who proved elusiive to the Delhi Police on Friday, was taken into custody from outside the Jama Masjid in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

He was inside the mosque in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

"We have to make sacrifice so that the legislation is taken back. We do not support violence. We were sitting inside the mosque since Friday morning and our people were not involved in violence," he said.

Azad had given the Delhi Police a slip to reach the Jama Masjid on Friday. He had said his name is 'Azad' and police cannot hold him captive.

Azad, whose name means free or independent, said his group was not involved in the violence near Delhi Gate on Friday.

"Policemen dressed as civilians are instigating violence in a bid to scuttle the protests," he alleged.

Asked how he breached the tight security ring outside the Jama Masjid on Friday afternoon, he said, "My name is Chandrashekhar Azad. Police cannot hold me captive. I wore a cap and a shawl and entered the masjid easily."

The Dalit group leader claimed that 54 per cent of Dalits are landless. "How can we furnish documents of 1955. The government will snatch our right to vote, our reservation, SC/ST Act..." he said.

The proposed National Register of Citizens is going to impact Muslims and Dalits the most, Azad claimed.

"They could not keep the Rafale files safe in lockers, how can they ask us to furnish documents? They cannot show their degrees to us. Why should we?" he said.

The protest will continue till Home Minister Amit Shah resigns, he said, adding he will soon address the protesters at Jamia Millia Islamia.

In the evening, Delhi Police resorted to lathicharge and used water cannon to disperse protesters near Delhi Gate as violence marked a march against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on Friday with stones being hurled on security personnel.

Azad had urged his supporters to carry on the protest peacefully.

"Those who are indulging in violence are not our people. Our peaceful protest continues at the historic Jama Masjid. Ambedkarites do not indulge in violence.

"Those indulging in violence are from RSS and not from our outfit. I am at Jama Masjid and will stay here. Those who commit violence want to weaken our movement," Azad had tweeted in Hindi.

Named after BR Ambedkar, Azad's party Bhim Army is an organisation that runs free schools for Dalits in the western Uttar Pradesh. It works for the emancipation of Dalits through education in India.

(With inputs from PTI.)