Violence grips 8 more districts in Uttar Pradesh

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh has been pushed further into the throes of violence with many more districts of both western and eastern UP witnessing stone pelting, burning of vehicles by angry protestors, triggering lathi charge by police even as section 144 continued to remain applicable in the entire state with internet services suspended in many places in the state.

A day after violent protests leading to arson and one death had rocked the state capital Lucknow, more cities including Bulandshahr, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Bhadohi, Firozabad, Kanpur, Bahraich and Jaunpur witnessed clashes between angry protestors and police. In Bulandshahr, the situation got particularly tense with a police van being torched while stone pelting took place in all the other areas.

"We tried to contain a protest march since 144 was in place. When they did not adhere to our instructions, we used force which led to stone pelting from their side," a police official in Bhadohi said.


These fresh instances of violence took place despite strict control by the UP police appealing to Muslim clerics in many towns to ask citizens to exercise restraint and abide by the limitations of section 144 that prohibits the gathering of four or more people in an area. Internet had been suspended in at least 15 districts of the state including in the state capital Lucknow.

In Kanpur, around a force with a strength of 8000 had been deployed with the police resorting to preventive arrests and identifying "anti-social elements". "We had reached out to imams and maulvis in mosques to intimate people to remain calm and not indulge in violence and go straight home after the Friday prayers. We had deployed force at strategic locations and used Aerostag to monitor locations," a senior police official of Kanpur said.

A day before, violent protests had broken out in areas of Lucknow and Sambhal. While in Lucknow, thousands had come out to show their anger against the passage of the contentious law, destroying buses, media vans and police vehicles, buses had been targetted in Sambhal leading to FIR being lodged against 17 known people including two Samajwadi party workers. 30 people had been detained.

In Lucknow, official complaints had been filed against at least 6 people till evening.