Friday prayers held peacefully in UP amid police deployment

LUCKNOW : For the second consecutive week, Friday prayers were held peacefully across the state, including sensitive districts like Prayagraj, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Firozabad, Aligarh, Kanpur, Lucknow and Bareilly, amid heavy police deployment.

On June 3 and June 10, violent protests were reported against insulting remarks for Prophet Mohammed by suspended BJP national spokesperson Nupur Sharma during an electronic channel debate.

Since then, the state police were put on the alert for peaceful conduct of Friday prayers, said senior police officials. They said the police had roped in clerics and religious leaders to maintain peace and communal harmony. Besides, several rounds of peace meetings were conducted in trouble-affected districts in the past few days, they added.

To recall, violence was reported after prayers on two consecutive Fridays-- on June 3 and June 10. Violence broke out in Kanpur after Friday prayers on June 3 and then in 10 districts, including Prayagraj, Saharanpur, Firozabad and

Moradabad, on June 10. As many as 423 people have been arrested under 20 different FIRs lodged in 10 districts.

UP police additional director general ( ADG), Prashant Kumar said the Friday prayers were held peacefully across the state and no untoward incident was reported from anywhere. “We are continuously maintaining vigil in the affected areas of Prayagraj, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Aligarh and Firozabad to ensure there is no further problem there,” he added.

He said detailed advisory was issued to police officials in different districts to maintain the same level of alertness as it was on June 17 and to intensify vigil to avert any trouble.

He said special deployment was made in the 10 districts where trouble was reported on June 10. He said patrolling was conducted in Muslim- dominated areas and near mosques to instil security in people and send a warning to troublemakers.

Another senior official said special deployments was done in 10 districts, including Kanpur city, Firozabad, Aligarh, Hathras, Moradabad, Ambedkarnagar, Lakhimpur Kheri, Jalaun, Saharanpur and Prayagraj.