UP govt wanted to mob lynch anti-CAA protesters: Former IPS officer

He said that since the hoardings were put up, he has received several threat calls and messages

The state government had put up hoardings with names, photos, and addresses of anti-CAA protesters in a bid to mob lynch them, said SP Darapuri, a former IPS officer and one of those whose details were put on display.

"By putting up these hoardings across the city, the Yogi Adityanath government wanted to malign the people, who featured in these hoardings and scare the public. The government wanted to do mob lynching of us by giving our addresses on the posters," Darapuri told ANI.

He also said that since the hoardings were put up, he has received several threat calls and messages.

Recounting the days of violence, the former IPS officer said: "On December 19, I was under house arrest with the police outside my house. On December 20, the police came and took me with them at 11 am but my arrest was shown at 7 pm."

He further said: "The police had alleged that I was behind the violence. However, when the court was hearing my bail application, the police could not provide a single proof of my involvement."

On March 5, the District Administration installed hoardings with photographs and addresses of 53 anti-CAA protesters at prominent crossings across the city.

The hoardings included photos of Shia cleric Maulana Saif Abbas, Darapuri and Congress leader Sadaf Jafar, all of whom were named as accused in the violence that swept the state capital on December 19 last year.

The Allahabad High Court on Sunday observed that the Uttar Pradesh government's action of putting up hoardings featuring names with photographs and addresses of those accused of violence during anti-CAA protests is a violation of their privacy.

The observation was made by the bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha, which took the suo motu cognizance of the hoardings and asked Lucknow Commissioner of Police Sujit Pandey and District Magistrate Abhishek Prakash to explain the law under which the hoardings were put up.