Anti-CAA protests: security beefed up in Aligarh for Friday prayers

In view of the ongoing anti-CAA protests, the district administration has deployed additional police force in sensitive localities of the city as a precautionary measure to ensure peace after Friday prayers.

ADM (City), Rakesh Kumar Malpani, said additional police force has been deployed at Upper Court, Shah Jamal and Jamalpur localities as a precautionary measure.

The ADM said anyone who tries to violate Section 144 would be dealt with sternly.

On December 20, there were protests in some parts of the city after the Friday prayers against the Citizenship (Amendment Act) . The authorities are taking precautionary measures in view of this as well as ongoing anti-CAA protests in the city for the past couple of days.

In an alleged crackdown on protesters on Thursday evening, police detained a Delhi based journalist, Shaheen Abdullah near the Eidgah at Shah Jamal locality while he was live streaming the ongoing protest by women.

For the past three days, a large number of women had been protesting inside the Eidgah complex against the CAA.

Abdullah, who works for Maktub Media, a news website and is presently a student at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, was later let off by the police at Thana Delhi Gate when a large number of protesters started gathering at the police station.

Police, however, said they had been given permission only for two days and Thursday's protest was illegal as they violated section 144.

Abdullah later told newspersons that he had shown the police his press identity card but this did not deter them from detaining him and two other persons who were accompanying him.

SSP, Akash Kulhari told PTI, Abdullah was legally detained under Section 151 of IPC as he was trying to breach peace.

In another case, the police have booked two AMU students, Naim Ali and Mohammad Asif, for allegedly coaxing two minors to participate in the dharna inside the AMU campus on January 20.

Circle Officer Anil Samania said they have been booked following a complaint by the President of the Child Welfare Committee Dr Vishesh Gupta.

Samania said anyone who tries to exploit minors would be similarly charged.

In another instance, a private citizen was sent a notice by the police to explain how a protest was held in front of his house near Dodhpur locality under Civil Lines police station.

Khwaja Hasan Jibran, who was out of town on a month long vacation, was served this notice four days back when he returned to town.

Jibran, who is the son of late Khwaja Haleem, a senior cabinet minister in the earlier Mulayam Singh government in Uttar Pradesh, said he was totally unaware why the protesters had chosen the road on which his house is located to hold a protest.

He said apparently some protesters, during the dharna, had entered his compound to drink water from a tap.

More than half a dozen policemen are deployed in front of his house to prevent any further dharna.