Protests spread in UP, Yogi cancels leave of officials

Lucknow: With protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) spreading to more districts in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath-led government has cancelled the leave of all district magistrates and police chiefs for the next seven days.

These officials have been asked not to leave their respective districts till further orders.

Trouble was reported from Mau and Varanasi districts on Monday where groups of students shouted slogans against the government, protesting against the CAA. Additional forces have been deployed in the districts.

In Lucknow, protesters at the Nadwa College made a renewed attempt to move out of their campus but were hemmed in by the police in time.

Additional Chief Secretary (home) Avanish Awasthi said that prohibitory orders have been clamped in the entire state. Earlier in the day too, students had pelted stones at the cops.

Meanwhile, all schools and colleges in Aligarh have been closed for Tuesday.

According to the Aligarh SSP Akash Kulhari, the police have arrested 21 persons and FIRs have been lodged against another 56 for violent clashes that took place on the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus on Sunday night.

AMU in-charge of Public Relations Shafey Kidwai said, “There are an estimated 11,000 students in the hostel. With the help of 40 buses, around 4,500 students living within the 350 km radius have been evacuated. For the remaining students, the university administration has requested the railways to stop all long-distance trains in Aligarh to help the students travel back home.”

“On Sunday night, rumours were spread like wildfire on social media by unidentified elements which led to protests and clashes that left Aligarh DIG Parminder Singh and SP (City) Abhishek injured,” Kidwai added.

Published on: Dec 16, 2019 at 20:12 IST

IANS