Protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (Representational image)
As protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act and NRC grip the nation, 65 people were arrested and 350, including a former legislator, booked on Saturday in Ghaziabad for allegedly spreading violence, police said.
Speaking on their action to curb violence amid protests, UP police said it conducted a special drive to nab those who were trying to incite violence, damaging public property.
Senior Superintendent of Police Sudhir Kumar Singh informed that more than 65 people were arrested and FIRs registered against 350 anti-social elements on Saturday.
An FIR has been also lodged against former Loni MLA Zakir Ali, he added. Singh said miscreants have been identified and will be arrested soon.
Protests against CAA and NRC are taking place in other UP districts as well including Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Meerut and others.
Meanwhile, in a bid to reach out to people protesting against the CAA, the BJP on Saturday announced a mass contact programme over the amended citizenship law as the party geared up to mobilise support for the contentious legislation amid widespread protests against it.
Party general secretary Bhupender Yadav told reporters that the BJP, within the next 10 days, will contact more than three crore families, organise a rally in every district and hold over 250 press conferences across the country to expose opposition parties’ “lies” and inform masses about the new law.
The announcement came following a meeting chaired by BJP working president JP Nadda. It was attended by the party’s national office bearers and some organisational leaders from states.
Nadda told party leaders that they should work to expose the “conspiracy” of the Congress, Trinamool Congress and the Left among others to push their politics of “violence and hate”.
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