Protests against UPPSC's new reservation policy turn violent

Violence broke out in the city today during a protest against new reservation policy by UPPSC as youths went on a rampage pelting policemen with stones, vandalising dozens of vehicles and shops and raising slogans against the Commission and the state government.
No one has been arrested so far in connection with the incident, police sources said.
The protests came even as the Allahabad High Court asked the state government and the UPPSC to seek instructions on a petition challenging the policy which proposes caste-based quotas from the preliminary exams stage itself.
Trouble started around noon when hundreds of students gathered in front of the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission building here to protest against the new policy.

After chanting slogans against the UPPSC and the Samajwadi Party government in the state, the students proceeded towards the posh Civil Lines locality, which is also the city's commercial hub, police sources said.
When policemen deployed there tried to prevent them from approaching Civil Lines, the students got furious and indulged in heavy stone-pelting, the sources said.

By the time they reached the Civil Lines crossing, the protestors had vandalised several shops and vehicles parked on the roadside even as senior officials led by Inspector General of Police of Allahabad Zone, Alok Sharma, rushed to the spot.
After much cajoling, the officials succeeded in pacifying the agitators, most of whom left the spot while those who stayed back continued to raise slogans without indulging in violence, theys said.

Significantly, local leaders of BJP and regional outfit Apna Dal had yesterday extended support to the students' decision to carry out the agitation in protest of the new reservation policy.
The protestors have been alleging that the new reservation policy was aimed at benefiting members of those castes which have been traditional voters of the ruling Samajwadi Party in the state.
Meanwhile, a division bench comprising Justice Laxmi Kant Mahapatra and Justice Rakesh Srivastava asked the the state government and the UPPSC to file their counter affidavits on July 22.
The petitioners had alleged that the new reservation policy was ultra vires of the Constitution.