Agnipath protests: 260 people arrested, 6 FIRs registered in UP

Lucknow, Jun 18: The Uttar Pradesh cops have arrested at least 250 people in connection with the violence related to 'Agnipath' scheme till Friday.

In a statement, ADG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said that a total of six FIRs have been filed in places like Firozabad, Aligarh, Varanasi, and Gautam Buddh Nagar districts.

Out of the 260 arrested, 109 people are from Ballia followed by 70 from Mathura, 31 from Aligarh, Varanasi (27) and Gautam Budh Nagar (15). On Friday, a mob vandalised a train at the Ballia railway station in Uttar Pradesh during a protest against the 'Agnipath' recruitment scheme.

Many Army aspirants for the armed forces are unhappy with the changes introduced under the new recruitment scheme, particularly the length of service, no pension provisions for those released early, and the 17.5 to 21-year age restriction that now makes many of them ineligible.

A man was shot dead in police firing in Telangana's Secunderabad, trains went up in flames, and public and private vehicles were attacked, as railway stations and highways turned into battlegrounds in many states on Friday amid burgeoning protests against Agnipath.

Unveiling the Agnipath scheme on Tuesday, the government said youths between the ages of 17-and-a-half and 21 years would be inducted for a four-year tenure while 25 per cent of the recruits will be retained for regular service. The upper age limit was raised to 23 years on Thursday as the protests against the new model for enrolment of soldiers into the Army, Navy and Air Force spread. PTI