CAA protests: Section 144 imposed in Lucknow
In wake of the violent protests over the amended Citizenship Act, section 144 has been imposed in the entire Lucknow city. Mobile internet services and SMS of all mobile service providers have also been suspended in Lucknow till December 21 noon, a government order on Thursday had stated. The order is effective from 3 pm on December 19 till 12 pm on December 21, the order stated.
Internet services were also suspended in Sambhal, Aligarh, Mau, Ghaziabad and Azamgarh districts, even as Section 144 of the CrPC, which bans assembly of people, was already in force in the entire state for several days.
The Lucknow police have registered 8 FIR in connection with the protests over the Citizenship Act after which as many as 150 people were arrested in the city.
One person was killed as violence erupted in parts of Lucknow over CAA on Thursday. Police stations and buses were torched by agitated protester, angry over the new citizenship law.
Mohammad Wakeel (25) suffered a firearm injury when he was passing through an old city area where the clashes took place, his family said. But police denied that this had anything to do with the protests or the police action.
The scattered incidents of violence were reported from Lucknow‘s old city and parts of Sambhal and Mau districts.
Two buses were torched, one in Lucknow and the other in Sambhal. Mobs also targeted two police posts in the state capital, setting one of them ablaze. Police resorted to lathi-charge and used tear-gas shells at several places.
Eighteen police personnel – 16 in Lucknow and two in Sambhal -- were injured.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said his government will “avenge” the destruction of public assets during the protests over the amended citizenship law by seizing and auctioning off the property of those involved in the violence.
"There is no place for violence in a democracy. In the name of opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act, the Congress, SP and Left parties have pushed the entire country into fire,” he said.
"There was violence in Lucknow and Sambhal and we will deal with it strictly. All property of those involved in damaging public assets will be seized and auctioned to compensate for the losses," he said.
The CAA, which has met with objection from a section of people, allows citizenship to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis who entered India before 2015 after facing religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The list excludes Muslims.
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