Case registered against anti-CAA protesters in Mumbai

A case has been registered against the organisers and around 300 women protesters who are on a sit-in against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and NRC in Nagpada area here since January 26, the police said.

The police are also issuing notices to these protesters, an official said on Saturday.

An assistant commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) lodged a complaint at Nagpada police station in central Mumbai on Friday evening.

It stated that the civic body could not carry out construction work on Morland Road as the protesters have set up a stage and put chairs on the road and also obstructed traffic, the police official said.

Nagpada Police registered a case under IPC sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) as well as under relevant sections of the BMC Act, the official added.

A women's protest, on the lines of the ongoing sit-in at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, is underway on Morland Road since Republic Day against the CAA and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).

It is also attracting activists from other parts of the city as well as the country, celebrities and others.

Normal traffic on the road has stopped for the last two weeks, the police official said.

After registering the offence, the police are noting down names and addresses of participants and have issued notices under section 149 of the Criminal Procedure Code to 16 persons including women, warning them not to violate law.

The section empowers the police to take action to prevent a crime.

Some protesters refused to accept notices, the police official said.

The police also took a 'bond of tranquility' from activist Feroz Mithiborwala who was present at the protest, he said.

"We are doing all this for safety and security of the people who are protesting and to maintain law and order," the official said, adding that the protesters should cooperate with police.

"If any individual disobeys the orders, does not cooperate or argues with the police personnel doing their duty, we will register a case against him or her," he added.

The police were also video-recording the protest, the official said.

Two days ago, a photojournalist covering the protest was allegedly roughed up by two policemen. The state government has ordered an inquiry into the incident.