Modi calls for calm as Delhi riots toll rises to 27  

• "I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Delhi to maintain peace and brotherhood at all times. It is important... calm and normalcy is restored at the earliest," Modi tweeted on Wednesday.
• Delhi's chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, a political opponent, called for the army to be deployed and for a curfew to be imposed.

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for calm Wednesday after Delhi's worst sectarian violence in decades left at least 27 people dead and prompted demands for a military curfew.

This week's battles between Hindus and Muslims have seen mobs armed with swords, guns and acid raze parts of a northeastern district of the Indian capital.

The clashes, which also left more than 200 injured, were triggered by protests against a citizenship law seen by many critics as anti-Muslim and part of Modi's Hindu nationalist agenda.

They exploded into brutal violence on Monday and Tuesday, with residents forced to flee their homes after seeing dwellings destroyed, a mosque attacked and a tyre market and two schools set ablaze.

"I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Delhi to maintain peace and brotherhood at all times. It is important... calm and normalcy is restored at the earliest," Modi tweeted on Wednesday.

Delhi's chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, a political opponent, called for the army to be deployed and for a curfew to be imposed.

Delhi Police spokesman Mandeep Singh Randhawa told reporters 106 people had been arrested.

The US embassy issued a travel warning advising citizens to exercise caution.