Bengaluru: Section 144 to remain in place today; cases registered against Rizwan Arshad, Ramachandra Guha

Section 144 will remain imposed in Bengaluru till today due to protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, City Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao said, adding cases have been registered against Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad and eminent historian Ramachandra Guha.

"Section-144 to remain imposed in the city till Friday. 24 people have been booked and eight cases have been registered. Cases also registered against MLA Rizwan Arshad and Ramachandra Guha," Rao on Thursday said.

"There was no unpleasant incident in today's protest. Our police personnel have worked patiently. I appeal to nobody, notably the students, not to participate in the protest. A case of violation of the law will be filed at this time," he added.

Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad was detained by the city police for protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, (CAA) despite the imposition of Section 144, which prohibits the gathering of four or more people.

The Left parties in the state had called a protest here today against the CAA in which scores of protesters including students, advocates and political workers took part.

The protesters gathered at the Town Hall here and raised slogans of "Azaadi", "Humko chhaiye Azaadi" and "Sarkaar Murdabad" while demanding repeal of the CAA.

Police also detained Padma Bhushan awardee Ramachandra Guha during a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at Town Hall here.

Protests have intensified in various parts of the country after the Parliament had passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, last week. The Bill became an Act after getting presidential assent.

The CAA seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and came to India on or before December 31, 2014.