Anti-CAA protests singe UP: 16 killed, 263 cops injured

A police post was torched in Kanpur on Saturday amid fresh incidents of protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Uttar Pradesh's several districts including in Rampur and Aligarh as the toll in the violence in the last two days rose to 16.

The latest death was reported from Rampur on Saturday evening, where one person died and several people, including policemen injured as clashes broke out between anti-CAA protesters and police.

Five two-wheelers, including one of a mediaperson and one of the police, and a car were set afire during the violence and five protesters were injured in police lathicharge, officials said.

"Of the five injured, four were referred to Meerut for treatment where one died, while another is in a serious condition. Around a dozen protestors have been detained," District Magistrate (DM) Aunjaneya Singh told PTI.

Around 400 to 500 people gathered near the city Eidgah to protest against the amended Citizenship Act amid a bandh call, he said.

As many as 705 persons were arrested for committing substantive offences and 4,500 were detained across the state, IG (Law and Order) Praveen Kumar said in Lucknow on Saturday.

The number of policemen injured were 263 of whom 57 received firearm injuries, he said.

Maintaining that the police did not open fire, Director General of Police O P Singh said, "Women and children were used as shields by the protestors."
"So far action has been taken against 14,101 social media posts. This includes 5,965 Twitter posts; 7,995 Facebook (accounts) and 141 Youtube."
The DM suspected the involvement of non-locals in the protest and said, "Police did not open fire anywhere, yet one protester had a gunshot injury."