Lucknow: Blaming “outsiders” for the violence during protests against the amended Citizenship Act, the UP government on Sunday said six people from West Bengal associated with Islamic outfits PFI and SIMI have been arrested, even as authorities “detained” a Trinamool Congress delegation at Lucknow airport when it was heading to meet the families of those killed in the clashes.
After days of violence that claimed at least 16 lives and left hundreds of people, including policemen, injured in Uttar Pradesh, the situation remained by and large peaceful in the state capital and other districts like Meerut, Firozabad, Kanpur and Bijnor. Internet services have been suspended in several areas till Monday, while prohibitory orders remained in force across the state.
Priyanka meets families
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited Bijnor district where she met families of two persons killed in the violence. UP Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu said she also interacted with people in Nahtaur area.
At a hurriedly convened press conference here, Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma alleged “outsiders’ role” in the incidents of violence reported from various districts of the state during demonstrations against the Citizenship (Amendment) Acts and that protesters had used illegal firearms. He said that six people hailing from West Bengal’s Malda district, associated with the PFI, had been arrested by the state police.
“There is involvement of Popular Front of India (PFI). They have connection with SIMI. Six people from Malda have been arrested,” he said. Students Islamic Movement of India or SIMI is a banned terror outfit.
TMC delegation stopped at Lucknow airport
Sharma’s statement came on a day a four-member Trinamool Congress (TMC) delegation from West Bengal, which was planning to meet the families of those killed in Uttar Pradesh during protests over the new citizenship law, was “detained” at Lucknow airport on Sunday afternoon.
One of the delegates Nadimul Haque, an MP, said he and other party members were staging a sit-in near a hangar at the CCS airport. “We have been detained at Lucknow airport. As soon as we got down from the aircraft, we were surrounded by police and were taken by the police to a secluded spot on the runway. We are staging a dharna near a hangar,” Haque told PTI over phone.
The delegation, led by former MP Dinesh Trivedi, also includes parliamentarian Pratima Mondal and Abir Biswas.
TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been one of the most vocals critics of the new law and has been leading protests in her state on the issue. Sharma told reporters that as many as 288 police personnel sustained injuries, of which 62 were due to firearms, during the violent protests. “About 500 empty cartridges of prohibited bore have been found. This indicates that the protestors were using illegal weapons,” he said.
So far, 705 people have been arrested in connection with the violence. He blamed the opposition Samajwadi Party for worsening the situation. “The opposition is inciting people by making false statements,” he said.
Sharma’s remarks came minutes after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav attacked the ruling BJP alleging that the new citizenship law has been brought in to “divert the attention” from the “virtually destroyed” economy and rising unemployment.
Addressing a press conference here, Yadav said people were made to stand in line to withdraw cash during the demonetisation exercise and now they will have to stand in queue for their rights due to NRC. “The economy in dire straits, has been virtually destroyed, unemployment is at an all-time high. To divert the attention from these issues, CAA was enacted,” he said. (PTI)
