CAA protest: One killed in Lucknow violence

Lucknow, Dec 19: A Lucknow man was killed as violence erupted in the state capital and some other parts of Uttar Pradesh with protesters, angry over the new citizenship law, pelting stones at police and torching vehicles.

Mohammad Wakeel (25) suffered a firearm injury when he was passing through an old city area where the clashes took place, his family members said.

The police, however, denied that the firearm injury had anything to do with the protests or the police action.

The scattered incidents of violence were reported from Lucknow's old city and parts of Sambhal and Mau districts. Two buses were torched and police posts targeted in Lucknow and Sambhal. Police said 18 of their own personnel - 16 in Lucknow and two in Sambhal -- were injured.

Altogether, 112 protesters detained. Internet services remained suspended for at least part of the day at various places, including Aligarh, Sambhal, Mau and Azamgarh districts.

Section 144 of the CrPc, which bans the assembly of people, had already been in force in the entire state for several days now.

Talking tough on TV, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the state government will make those who damaged property pay for it. He said a dozen vehicles, mostly two wheelers, were set afire.

Samajwadi Party and Congress MLAs held protests in the state assembly complex against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. SP workers also defied the ban on protests in several districts, the party said.

Their protests largely remained peaceful. Teachers from the Aligarh Muslim University, the scene of violence on Sunday, also took out a protest march.

Shopkeepers in some areas of the city briefly downed shutters in support.

Traders in many markets shut shop early as reports of violence in the old city came in.

Police fired tear-gas shells in old Lucknow's Madeyganj area as protesters smashed vehicles parked outside a police post.

About 20 people were taken into custody. In Hasanganj area, policemen dodged stones hurled by protesters.

They had a tough time tackling protesters in some other parts of the old city as well.
At Lucknow's Parivartan Chowk, close to the district magistrate's office, police faced brickbats and the van of a television crew was reportedly damaged.

Party sources said Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Kumar Lallu was also detained while leading a protest there.

The gates of the nearby KD Singh metro station were shut to prevent more protesters from gathering at Parivartan Chowk.

The contentious Act seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees belonging to Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities facing persecution on the basis of religion in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. From the time the Bill has received presidential assent and became an Act, there have been violent protests opposing it in several parts of the country.