Situation brought under control in UP, priority to maintain law and order: DGP

Hours after violent protests against the amended citizenship law rocked Lucknow and some other parts of Uttar Pradesh, state police chief OP Singh assured that the situation has been brought under control and the focus now was to maintain peace during Friday prayers.

The director general of police said the force fired tea-gas shells to contain the situation in Lucknow and Sambhal, where demonstrators indulged in arson and hurled stones on policemen.

"The situation is normal in the entire state and our priority is to maintain law and order," he said.

Officials were examining CCTV footage and those who damaged public properties will not be spared, he told reporters.

Asked if there was an intelligence failure about the possibility of violence in Lucknow, Singh said, "Our focus, at present, is to maintain law and order and ensure peace during Friday prayers tomorrow. We will see this later."