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The Uttar Pradesh government has turned off the internet across districts including, Ghaziabad, Agra, Saharanpur, Bijnor and Firozabad. Among other parts of the state where internet services were reportedly suspended are – Bulandshahar, Muzaffarnagar, Sambhal, and Aligarh.
The Yogi Adityanath government has decided to beep up security in the state today to ensure peace ahead of the Friday prayers, keeping in mind the widespread violence that hit the state last week during protests against the amended citizenship law.
In Agra also, the services will remain suspended from 8 am till 6 pm on Friday, a senior police official said. To avoid a repeat of last Friday’s violence in Gorakhpur, police staged a flag march in sensitive areas and held a meeting with peace committees in all circle and police station areas.
Additional Director General Prashant Kumar said that 317 people have been arrested and 79 cases registered in connection with the violence during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in Meerut.
“79 cases have been registered and 317 were arrested. 108 police personnel are injured in which 10 sustained firearm injuries. Ten administration officials and 7 people including some journalists also sustained injuries. Five people lost their lives in the violence,” Kumar said.
“The administration is educating people on CAA and we are also monitoring social media.
On the arrest of two people from Meerut Nauchangi area, Kumar said: “Two men of Popular Front of India’s wing SDPI were arrested. One of them is the state chief of the organisation. We have found some objectionable literature from them.
“In Shamli, some people from this organisation were arrested earlier. The police had also recovered such literature from their office in Meerut. We are investigating the organisation’s role,” he said.
Protests have erupted across the country against the Act which grants Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.
