Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh continued to be on edge on Saturday with the anti-CAA protest toll going up to 15. One person was killed and many others were injured in a fresh spell of violent protests in the western UP district of Rampur on Saturday. Meanwhile, 9000 persons have been booked and 2000 held for the violent protests across the state so far.

Four people in Meerut, two each in Bijnor, Sambhal, Kanpur and Varanasi, and one each in Ferozabad, Muzaffarnagar and Rampur have died from injuries sustained during the protests.

Earlier, nine people including three in Meerut, two in Bijnor, and one each in Varanasi, Ferozabad, Sambhal and Kanpur, were killed during violent protests across the state till Friday evening.

Five more people succumbed during treatment in hospitals across different districts. A huge flare-up was witnessed as thousands of protesters had hit the roads after Friday prayers in mosques across Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Sambhal, Ferozabad, Amroha, Bijnor and Bulandshahr in western UP. Violence was also witnessed in Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Bahriach. One person had succumbed to gunshot wounds after violent protests in Lucknow on Thursday night.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath issued a renewed appeal to the people of the state to maintain peace. He took to Twitter on Saturday and cautioned the public against falling for any kind of rumours.

Urging the people not to indulge in rumour-mongering, the CMO’s office tweeted, “Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that no one should fall for the deception and confusion being spread on the Citizenship Amendment Act. Uttar Pradesh government is committed to providing security to every person in the state and UP police are doing so.”

Appealing for the restoration of peace, CM Yogi added that no one should be provoked by the instigation of unruly elements. He instructed the police administration to find and punish the people responsible for spreading rumours on the citizenship law and take action against them.

He also hit out at the Congress and Samajwadi Party and accused them of being “anti-national” and “anti-social”. The CM said, “The statements of Congress leaders and the acts of SP leaders are very unfortunate. They are constantly creating confusion. Anti-social and anti-national elements do not want

peace and prosperity in the country. Thus, they are spreading violence by misleading people.”

Meanwhile, hinting at the alleged role of external elements in fomenting trouble in UP, DGP OP Singh claimed that involvement of some outsiders had come to the fore after the initial investigation into the violent protests in the state. “No innocent will be harassed but no trouble maker will be spared either. Faces have been identified and action has been initiated against those who indulged in violence across the state,” said the DGP adding that all aspects of the violence were being probed and analysed by the police investigation team. He claimed that the situation across the state was more or less peaceful.

So far, around 9000 people had been booked in connection with violent protests across the state. Over 2000 people have already been taken into custody. Of the 2000 arrested so far in the state, 218 were held in Lucknow alone. As per highly placed police sources, six of the protesters were reported to be hailing from Malda in West Bengal. “The Bengal connection to the Lucknow violence is cropping up and it is under probe,” said a senior police officer.

Legal action has also been initiated against those who were identified by the police as being responsible for the Lucknow violence. Recovery notices were being issued to the troublemakers asking them to pay the penalty amount for damaging public property in Lucknow during Thursday violence.

The shop of a cloth merchant was sealed by the district authorities in the old city area of Daliganj on Saturday. He has been served a recovery notice of Rs 1.76 lakh. “If he fails to deposit the penalty amount, his shop will be auctioned to derive the money,” said a senior cop.

Similarly, Gorakhpur police also released photos of a number of trouble makers who had indulged in violence during protests in the city on Friday. The trouble makers were identified on the basis of CCTV footage and video clips, said the DGP.