Despite massive police deployments and internet suspensions, massive violence and arson rocked several districts of Uttar Pradesh during the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests after prayers on Friday, resulting in seven deaths. And several others were injured, including some at gunpoint.
Director-General of Police OP Singh said that two people died in Bijnor and one each in Meerut, Sambhal, and Firozabad. According to sources, two more deaths also occurred in Meerut.
A day after Thursday’s violence in Lucknow, incidents in other districts on Friday surprised the police.
In Kanpur, where a four-kilometer-long procession was taken out, 12 protesters were injured, including nine with gunshot wounds. Some of the injured were admitted to LLR Hospital in Kanpur.
Ten districts – Meerut, Kanpur, Bulandshahr, Gorakhpur, Muzaffarnagar, Bhadohi, Farukhabad, Hapur, Firozabad and Bijnor – were hit by fire and Meerut, Kanpur, and Firozabad were the worst affected districts.
Protests of the Citizenship Amendment Act were also held in some other districts of the state, but they passed away peacefully.
Additional Director General (ADG), Kanpur Zone, Prem Prakash denied any police firing. He said: “I have no knowledge of any firing. If all of this happens, it should be plastic pellets and the injuries will be minor. ”
However, Mohammad Saif, one of the injured hospitalized at LLR (Lala Lajpat Rai), said: “I have a bullet in my stomach. The police continue to shoot, target and shoot at us.”
A day after Friday’s protests, violence and arson tormented the state capital, where one person was injured by gunfire.
The protesters, demanding the roll-back of the CAA, rejected Section 144 of the CrPC, which banned public meetings and barred anyone to stage a protest.
Meanwhile, the day passed peacefully in Lucknow, which was the epicenter of violence on Thursday, resulting in the death of a 28-year-old man named Mohammad Waqil in the Old City.
Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Avnish Awasthi, and Director General of Police (DGP) OP Singh visited sensitive places and called on Muslim clerics to maintain peace in Lucknow.
According to the state police spokesperson, the police had kept more than 3,300 people under arrest in various districts, while more than 200 people were detained in Lucknow following Thursday’s violence.
A senior police officer confirmed that Internet services were suspended throughout the day in 16 districts including Lucknow, Saharanpur, Meerut, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, Bareilly, Mau, Sambhal, Azamgarh, Agra, Moradabad, Unnao, Kanpur, Varanasi, and Varanasi… Bulandshahr
Protests erupted in Kanpur on Friday at Babupurwa, Phulbagh, and Jajmau. In Babupurwa, after joining Friday prayers, police personnel opened fire, shooting nine people to prevent protesters from marching on the road.
The agitators set fire to four police vehicles between Bakarganj and Idgah. In addition, some protesters vandalized shops and more than half a dozen vehicles in the Yatim Khana area.
Inspector-General of Police (IG), Praveen Kumar said that the police had to apply force as some anti-social elements resorted to brick-batting and arson. He said that protests and violence were reported from some cities, but enough police force was deployed to ensure peace.
In Gorakhpur, a group of protesters resorted to brick batting when the police tried to prevent them from staging a protest against the CAA. Locals said that protests were held from several places in Gorakhpur, where people walked out of mosques after Friday prayers, wearing black ribbons and shouting slogans.
Meerut and Muzaffarnagar districts also witnessed brick-batting during the protests. In Bulandshahr, protesters set fire to two vehicles.
In Bhadohi, sporadic incidents occurred with stone-pelting by protesters during the day. Superintendent of Police (SP) Bhadohi RB Singh said the police resorted to lathi-charge to chase the protesters.
Tension prevailed in Varanasi, Prayagraj, Shamli, Hapur, Deoband (Saharanpur), Bijnor and Firozabad, raising slogans demanding the roll-back of CAC.
