Yogi appeals for peace; all UP schools , colleges closed today

ON THE BOIL Violence reported across the state, police vehicles set on fire as protesters clash with security men

LUCKNOW:All schools, colleges and universities across Uttar Pradesh will remain shut on Saturday, state officials said on Friday night as violent protests against the amended citizenship act swept the state and at least nine people were killed in clashes with the police, including an eightyear-old child, who was crushed to death in a stampede when police clashed with protesters in Varanasi on Friday.

An order on the closure of schools was issued on Friday night, a government spokesperson was quoted as saying in an official statement.

The authorities on Friday put over 3,300 people under house arrest. Internet was shut down in at least 16 districts.

Among those detained were social workers, including Meera Sanghamitra, Arundhati Dhuru and Madhavi Kuckreja. Senior advocate Mohammed Shoaib and retired Indian Police Services officer SR Darapuri, who were placed under house arrest on Thursday, were arrested too.

The administration also imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which prohibits unlawful assembly of four or more people, in 16 districts.

Chief minister Adityanath said the government has already clarified that the citizenship law was not against any caste or religion. He said demonstrations were like negating laws of the country.

He said “anti-social and antinational elements” who did not want peace were misleading the people and spreading violence.

As protesters took to the streets to defy Section 144, a former police official said authorities were not able to anticipate the situation correctly.

“It was due to anticipation failure. The state police authorities have failed to anticipate intelligence inputs which led to such large-scale violence in Lucknow as well as other parts of the state,” said former director general of police (DGP) AK Jain.

“They could have contained it well in Lucknow when there was so much of force already present on the spot,” he said.

On Friday, the police were targeted at many sites of protest.

At least 20 people were injured — nine with gunshots — after thousands protested against the

CAA and clashed with the police in Kanpur. At least six vehicles, including those of police, were set ablaze in Ferozabad, forcing police to use tear-gas shells to disperse the mobs.

Half a dozen vehicles, mostly of policemen, were also torched in Kanpur’s Babupurwa area and six people were hurt in the city, additional DG (Kanpur zone) Prem Prakash said. He said 10 people allegedly involved in arson and stone- pelting were arrested.

In Meerut’s Islamabad locality, protesters targeted a police post, setting fire to some furniture and a parked motorcycle.

The violence came a day after police dealt with angry protesters in Lucknow and Sambhal districts.

Clashes with police were also reported from Bhadohi, Bahraich, Amroha, Varanasi, Hapur, Bulandshahr districts.

In Bahraich, six people, including two policemen, were injured. Around 40 men were arrested there.

In Bhadohi, people taking part in a protest march clashed with police. Officials said tear-gas shells were fired and mild force used against them. Bhadohi SP Ram Badan Singh said the protesters hurled stones and damaged several two-wheelers.

Large demonstrations were organised after Friday prayers in Gorakhpur, the home district of Adityanath.

Police fired tear-gas shells in Gorakhpur’s Khoonipur area to disperse protesters. There was tension in Ghantaghar, Shahmaroof, Nakhas and Ismailpur areas as people came out of mosques in large numbers and held demonstrations.

In Ghaziabad district, police reported stone-pelting at Muradnagar and Sahibabad’s Pasonda by people stopped from taking out processions. In Pasonda, police arrested 30 people. In Bulandshahr, a police vehicle was set on fire.

In Rampur, protesters have given a “bandh” call for on Saturday, according to police. Over 150 people were taken into custody in the district over the last two days as a preventive measure. No violence was reported there.

Earlier in the day, director general of police OP Singh said violence erupted after some “anti-social elements” mingled with a crowd protesting peacefully in Lucknow.

He said the police had found evidence in the form of videos and conversation details retrieved from mobile phones seized from the protesters detained in connection with Thursday’s Lucknow violence.