On Sunday, the police had lodged three FIRs for violation of prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC, and booked 24 people.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address rally in Uttar Pradesh’s capital Lucknow on Tuesday to garner support for Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA even as the ongoing women-led protest in the city against the new law entered its fifth day.
Police have booked 16 women and over 100 unidentified people, including two daughters of poet Munawwar Rana, in connection with the anti-CAA protest at Clock Tower, in Chowk area.
Other than Shah, other BJP leaders are also scheduled to hold rallies in the state. Newly-elected BJP chief JP Nadda will be in Agra on Thursday to drum up support for the CAA. Defence minister Rajnath Singh and Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari – both former BJP chiefs – will also hold rallies in UP.
Ahead of the rally, the police took out a flag march at Clock Tower, where women are protesting but the efforts to pacify the protesters went in vain. The protest further spread to Ujariaon area of Gomti Nagar where over 15 women staged a sit-in near a dargah, holding placards with slogans against CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
On Sunday, the police had lodged three FIRs for violation of prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC, and booked 24 people, including 16 women, and over 100 unidentified people. They were booked under charges of instigating people, and assault or criminal force to deter public servant from performing duty.
In one of the FIRs, the police said that Sumaiyya Rana and Faujia Rana (Munawwar Rana’s daughters) and two other women misbehaved with a woman constable during protest in the Clock Tower area. Police have booked them under Section 188 (disobeying government order) and Section 353 (deterring public servant from performing duties).
In another FIR, cops booked 18 people, including 12 women, for violating Section 144. Police said some people, mostly women, gathered at Clock Tower and shouted slogans against NRC and CAA on January 17. The road too was obstructed for some time, the police said. They have included the registration numbers of more than a dozen vehicles in the FIR for idle parking.
The third FIR was filed against two people, accusing them of instigating people to protest.
“FIR has been registered against the protesters for violating Section 144. We are also trying to identify the protesters on the basis of footages and images,” said Vikas Chandra Tripathi, additional commissioner of Police (West).
Prasanta Patnaik