Anti-CAA stir: 15 dead as protests rage across UP, police say ‘deaths took place in cross firing’

UP remained the worst affected state in terms of violence over the controversial legislation, with violent protests erupting mainly from 12 districts, including Firozabad, Muzaffarnagar, Bulandshahr and Bahraich.

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Protesters pelt a police vehicle with stones in Lucknow on Thursday. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)

The death toll in Uttar Pradesh during protests against the amended Citizenship Act has risen to 15, including a minor, even as fresh cases of stone-pelting took place in Kanpur and Rampur.

In Rampur, clashes broke out between anti-CAA protesters and the police Saturday, resulting in injuries to several people, including policemen, officials told news agency PTI. Whereas in Kanpur, protestors set Yatimkhana police post on fire and indulged in heavy brickbatting, leading to injury to some people, the news agency reported. The police, according to PTI, had to lob tear gas shells and use canes to chase them away, and fire tenders were rushed to control the flame.

UP remained the worst affected state in terms of violence over the controversial legislation, with violent protests erupting mainly from 12 districts, including Firozabad, Muzaffarnagar, Bulandshahr and Bahraich. Officials also said that internet services have been blocked in several districts, including Bulandshahr, Sambhal, Lucknow, Kanpur, Bijnor, Firozabad and Muzaffarnagar.

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On Friday, four deaths were reported from Meerut district and two each in Kanpur, Sambhal, Firozabad and Bijnor and one in Rampur. An 8-year-old boy was killed in a stampede in Varanasi when a violent mob was being chased by policemen. Besides, one person was killed in Lucknow during clashes on Thursday.

On late Friday evening, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had appealed to maintain law and order in the state. “It is seditious to mislead people on the Citizenship law and incite violence. We have identified the miscreants. Those who have caused damage to public property, we will seek revenge from the miscreants by auctioning their property,” he said in a video on Twitter.

नागरिकता कानून के मुद्दे पर गुमराह करके लोगों को हिंसा के लिए प्रेरित करना देशद्रोही कृत्य है।

उपद्रवियों को चिन्हित कर लिया गया है। उपद्रवियों ने पब्लिक प्रॉपर्टी को जो भी नुकसान पहुँचाया है, हम उसकी वसूली उन उपद्रवियों की संपत्ति नीलाम करके करेंगें। pic.twitter.com/vSHlX7Id7E

— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) December 19, 2019

The Uttar Pradesh Police chief, however, maintained that the police did not open fire during the agitation and rather suggested that the deaths were caused due to cross-firing between protesters, PTI reported. “All the deaths took place in cross-firing and this will become clear in the post-mortem examination,” said Director General of Police (DGP), Uttar Pradesh, O P Singh.

Asserting that nothing happened from their (police) side, he added, “We are clear and transparent on this. If anyone died due to our firing, we will conduct a judicial inquiry and take action.” Nearly 50 policemen were also injured in the clashes, officials were quoted as saying by PTI.

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