‘I love Mohammad’: Poster heat spreads from UP to Uttarakhand, police use facial recognition to crack down on protesters

A similar protest at Udham Singh Nagar’s Kashipur in Uttarakhand on Sunday night turned violent, following which police made a spate of arrests and the district administration demolished several structures, alleging encroachment.

Police claim the protest was taken out without permission. According to the district’s Senior Superintendent of Police, Manikant Mishra, the police tried to control the protesters, but the crowd attacked the police and vandalised their vehicles. “Seven people have been arrested and ten detained. The mastermind, Nadeem Akhtar, is being questioned to find the source of the activities that culminated in violence,” said the SSP.

The local police said they are tracing around 500 participants who were part of the rally by visiting their homes.

According to the FIR registered against the participants of the procession under sections including rioting, a police officer was assaulted after he tried to use a loudspeaker to control the crowd. “The mob kicked and punched me, hurled abuses, obstructed government work, created an atmosphere of fear and terror, and even tore off the star flaps from my uniform. During this incident, the emergency response vehicle that arrived at the spot was vandalised, its windows broken, and the bonnet of the police station’s official vehicle was damaged, causing loss to government property,” the complaint by the officer alleges.

The district administration has imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 BNSS to avoid assembly of people, and a joint team comprising the Revenue Department, Municipal Corporation Kashipur, Electricity Department Kashipur, Pollution Department, and Police conducted a combined operation in Mohalla Alli Kha, Kashipur.

As part of the operation, 17 “illegally operated” electricity connections were disconnected, 11 FIRs were registered, and it was recommended that the registration of a Jan Aadhaar centre be cancelled for not operating as per norms.

The Municipal Corporation also removed “encroachments” on the corporation’s drain, and fines totalling Rs 16,000 were imposed on vendors operating without a trade license.

Prohibitory orders will be in effect for seven days, officials said.

Officials will also run a drive to verify ration cards and cancel those who fail the checks. Further, according to the Municipal Commissioner, about 200 encroachments have been removed in the area that saw violence.