Protests against New Citizenship Law, NRC: Kanpur Police admit to opening fire, but ‘in air

“They fired four rounds but it was in the air,” PTI quoted Tiwari as saying. He also claimed that nobody was injured.
Asked specifically if the death of a person in Kanpur was due to a police bullet, he said, “Forensic examination will establish it.”

Earlier, a video grab surfaced showing a police sub-inspector purportedly loading his pistol, amid the sound of gunfire. The video appeared to be from Yateemkhana area in Kanpur.

Director General of Police O P Singh has said no one was killed in police firing in the state and blamed the deaths mostly on “cross-firing”.

Meanwhile, Shamli police arrested four more members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) for the violent protests there. On Monday, Lucknow police had arrested three members of the outfit in connection with the December 19 violence in the state Capital.

The UP Police on Tuesday also decided to recommend to the Central government to ban PFI.

The four members of PFI were arrested for allegedly attempting to create disturbance during a protest against the new citizenship law in Shamli on December 20. “We arrested four members of SDPI (Social Democratic Party of India, the political arm of PFI) today and 14 others earlier. Among the 14 persons arrested earlier, 12 were booked for preventive measures,” said Shamli Superintendent of Police Vineet Jaiswal. All accused were lodged in jail.

The four persons have been identified as Akbar, Naushad, Tahir and Faisal. They were arrested for allegedly trying to mobilise a mob when prohibitory orders under section 144 CrPC were in force and making statements on religious group to disturb the law and order, said a police officer.