Violence spreads to new areas in UP, 5 injured in Kanpur firing

Lucknow, Dec 20: Violence spread to more parts of Uttar Pradesh as anti-citizenship law protesters pelted stones at police in Firozabad, Gorakhpur, Bhadohi, Bahraich and Sambhal when they were stopped from taking out rallies after the Friday prayers.

Five people were injured in police firing in the protest at Babupurwa locality in Kanpur, where massive protests broke out in several localities after Friday prayers.

Internet snapped in major cities of UP

Internet access over mobile phones was suspended in major towns in Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Agra, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Varanasi, Mathura, Meerut, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Bareli, Firozadad, Pilibhit, Rampur, Saharanpur, Shamli, Sambhal, Amroha, Mau, Azamgarh and Sultanpur following explicit state government orders, telecom industry officials said

Prohibitory orders under CrPC section 144 have been placed in the entire state since Nov 9.

Though the state capital Lucknow and Aligarh remained largely peaceful, new areas were hit by violence. Demonstrators indulged in stone-pelting in several cities, forcing police to use canes and lob tear-gas shells to disperse the protesters.

Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Sambhal were hit majorly by the ongoing protests on Thursday too.

Internet services remained suspended in several districts to check spread of rumours.