Scores of people including human rights and social activists hit the streets in Uttar Pradesh’s capital on Friday to register their strong opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), defying orders that barred people from converging in groups in public places.
Internet and text messaging services have been suspended in 14 districts of Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow following Thursday’s violent protests as demonstrators resorted to arson by torching vehicles.
As many as 150 people have been kept under preventive custody, according to authorities.
Uttar Pradesh witnessed some of the worst protest-related violence, where media persons were attacked and OB vans were razed in Lucknow. Similar acts of violence and arson were reported from places such as Sambhal in the state.
20 motorcycles, 10 cars, 3 buses and 4 media OB vans were set ablaze in the area around Parivartan Chowk, Lucknow during protests against CAA.
The arrests have been made after Thursday’s protests over the CAA that turned violent in Lucknow and Sambhal and led to large scale destruction of public and private property.
Meanwhile, an FIR has been registered against 17 people including Samajwadi Party leaders, MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq and Feroz Khan in connection with Thursday’s violence.
One person was killed and more than 35 people including policemen were injured in the protests.
Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Avanish Awasthi said that the shutdown would continue till December 21 midnight. All private telecom operators have also shut services after the government order.
According to a senior police official, it was found late on Thursday night that the violent protests on Thursday were being live-streamed on the social media which aggravated the situation.
“Apart from the internet, SMS and messenger services have also been blocked. We are trying to inform our customers about this,” said a private telecom manager in Lucknow.