Kanpur communal clashes: Police form four SITs, arrest 7 more

“We will investigate if they (accused) have any links with the PFI (Popular Front of India), which had called for a closure (of shops) in Manipur and West Bengal on the same day,” Kanpur Police Commissioner Vijay Singh Meena.

“All the arrests so far have been made on the basis of photographic and video evidence from the scenes of riot with the help of human intelligence,” he added.

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Meanwhile, four men, who the police claim to be the main conspirators of the Friday’s clash, were sent to 14-day judicial custody by a local court. They were arrested from Lucknow on Friday.

Police said that they would file an application in court on Monday to seek their custody in order to question them in length.

The four alleged conspirators are members of a local outfit called MMA Jauhar Fans Association, a police officer said.

Those arrested include the association’s national president, Hayat Jafar Hashmi, its UP chairman Javed Mohammad Khan, member Mohammad Rahil, and one Mohammad Sufiyan of Kanpur.

According to the police, Hayat Jafar Hashmi has six cases pending against him, while Javed Mohannad Khan is the former district unit president of All India Majilis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM).

AIMIM’s state unit chief Shaukat Ali, however, said that Javed Mohammad Khan was suspended from the party around five years ago. “He has no association with the party now. I have come to know he had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election as an Independent candidate and lost,” said Ali.

Police said they are scrutinising documents recovered from the four men.

“Documents related to the Social Democratic Party of India and the Campus Front of India were also found during searches at the premises of Hayat Zafar Hashmi,” Kanpur Police Commissioner Meena said.

“We are collecting the background of the accused including their criminal record. No untoward incident took place on Sunday,” said Additional Commissioner of Police, Kanpur (Law & Order), Anand Prakash Tiwari.

A heavy police force has been deployed in the areas where clashes took place.

On Friday night, police lodged three separate FIRs in connection with the violence. While 56 people have been named in the FIRs, nearly 800 unidentified persons have been booked. At least 40 people, including 20 police personnel, were injured in the violence.

With PTI Inputs