Bengaluru: The Mangaluru Police has sent over 650 notices to people belonging to districts and neighbouring towns of Kerala for having visited the coastal town on December 19 when protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) had turned violent leading to two deaths and a few injuries.

Many people hailing from different towns of Kasargode, the northern-most district of Kerala have received a notice which read “credible source of information have been received showing your involvement of a member of unlawful assembly continuing to commit rioting with organised conspiracy and common intention to disrupt public order by violating the order promulgated by the competent authority".

The individuals, residents of towns like Manjeshwar, Uppala and Kasargod, have been asked to appear before police and assist in the on-going investigation, which is now being probed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

If found guilty, these people could be booked under various sections, including 143, 147, 188, 353, 322, 324, 427, 307, 120(a), 149 of the Indian Penal Code, Section 2 (A) (B) of the KPDLP Act and Section 174 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC).

A lawyer, who did not wish to be named, said it was routine for police to call people for questioning but the sheer number of notices was unusual.

"Notices under 41A of the CRPC is routine when an investigation is underway. It doesn't necessarily mean the people called can be booked. It is worrying though of how these people have been identified,” he said.

Reports suggest notices were sent to SIM card owners indicating that the state was using surveillance mechanism to identify protesters.

A Twitter user said it was a matter of worry if police started collecting mobile cell tower locations information of protesters as it could lead to potential harassment.