The Uttar Pradesh government has suspended Internet services in several districts of the state from Friday evening till tomorrow evening, amid concerns of further protest against the revised citizenship law.
The places where services will be affected on Friday are Agra, Mathura, Firozabad, Saharanpur, Bijnor, Bulandshahr and Ghaziabad. Other places where closure is likely are Lucknow, Kanpur, Meerut, Rampur, Bareilly, Moradabad, Aligarh, Muzaffarnagar, Hapur and Azamgarh.
State police officials are on their toes after Friday prayers and have already issued an alert in 15 violence-affected districts and other sensitive areas for tomorrow. Several districts witnessed widespread violence after Friday prayers on 20 December.
Inspector-General of Police (IG), Law and Order, Praveen Kumar said that the situation is normal across the state, but the police were vigilant and were keeping a tight vigil to prevent any kind of trouble.
He said that the district police chiefs were asked to communicate with Muslim religious leaders and other religious leaders, as well as hold peace committee meetings with local group leaders and influential people.
He said that additional forces are being deployed in some districts to ensure that Friday passes peacefully.
In the state capital, Additional Director General (ADG), Lucknow Zone, S.N. Sabat along with IG, Lucknow Range, SK Bhagat, and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Kalanidhi were present at the peace committee held in Naithani Chowk area. It has a densely Muslim population
Similar peace committee meetings took place in Gomti Nagar and other areas of the city.
The Circle Officer of Gomti Nagar Santosh Kumar Singh said, “We interacted mainly with Muslims, to explain that the CAA is not meant to reduce anyone’s citizenship, but to neighboring countries namely Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. Is to grant citizenship to minorities. ” He said that seven-point leaflets about CAA were also distributed among the people.
He appealed to the people not to believe in any rumors and to coordinate with the police to maintain peace and law and order.
Firozabad, ADG, Agra Zone, Ajay Anand, Commissioner, Agra Division, Anil Kumar and IG Agra Range, A Satish Ganesh held a peace committee meeting.
“On Friday, all necessary measures are being taken to maintain peace and harmony in Firozabad and other adjoining districts. Internet services have been suspended since Thursday morning and will continue till Friday evening to investigate the spread of rumors. In addition, police and paramilitary forces conducted flag marches in sensitive areas.
State police officials have so far confirmed 19 deaths in the violence that erupted during anti-CAA demonstrations since December 19.
The dead included four in Meerut, four in Kanpur, three in Firozabad, two each in Bijnor, Sambhal, and Muzaffarnagar, and one each in Rampur and Lucknow. He also said that no deaths occurred due to police firing. Also, on December 20, an eight-year-old boy was killed in a stampede during protests in Varanasi.
