AS A first step towards making protesters pay for causing damage to public properties during agitations against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the Uttar Pradesh Government has begun the process of identifying the vandals, with the Lucknow district administration forming a four-member panel to assess the damage. 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.

 

Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma 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. The Additional District Magistrate (east) has been made the in-charge of assessing the damage to various property in eastern part of the city, Lucknow District Magistrate Abhishek Prakash told PTI.

 

Similarly, the Additional District Magistrate (west) and Additional District Magistrate (trans-Gomti) have been assigned the task of evaluating the loss in their areas. Additional District Magistrate (administration) has been assigned with the task for the rural areas, the Lucknow DM said. The Gorakhpur police had on Saturday released photographs of around 50 people allegedly involved in protests against the amended citizenship law here after the Friday prayers. The police said the troublemakers have been identified from the video footage. “Around 50 people involved in the violence have been identified through video footage and their pictures will be put up all crossroads and major spots,” Kotwali Circle Officer V P Singh had said.

 

The move comes days after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that properties of all those involved in violence would be confiscated to offset the damage. Protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act that broke out in several districts of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday left at least 16 people dead and moveable and immoveable assets damaged, mostly in arson. Adityanath had said that the wrong-doers would be identified with the help of CCTV footage, video clips and photographs. The action is based on a Supreme Court order that rioters would be strictly made liable for the damage, and compensation would be collected to make good the damage. The Chief Minister had said that property of those involved in the violence would be seized and auctioned to compensate destruction of public assets during the protests over the amended citizenship law.

 

A 31-YEAR-OLD man was allegedly attacked with sharp weapons by a group of people while he was returning after taking part in a demonstration in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) here on Sunday, police said. Varun of J P Nagar has been admitted to the nearby Victoria Hospital where his condition is said to be stable, they said. On hearing this, Bengaluru south BJP MP Tejasvi Surya inquired about the injured man’s condition. Police said they were examining CCTV footage to track the assailants.

 

Earlier, the pro-CAA rally, organised by the BJP, RSS and affiliated organisations, at the Town Hall saw a huge turnout. Surya led the demonstration under the banner ‘We Support Citizenship Amendment Act’. Holding placards and waiving the tri-colour, the demonstrators shouted ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘We Support CAA’. Later, addressing the gathering, Surya said there were some people who were spreading lies to vitiate the atmosphere and defame the BJP Government. He said such people would never succeed in their effort.