CAA: Yogi gears up to deal with unrest after midnight meeting

As protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) gain momentum, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a late night meeting through video conferencing with district civil and police chiefs and asked them to take firm steps in dealing with troublemakers.

After the meeting, Lucknow Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kalanidhi Naithani said that all public events till December 19, which were earlier given permission, stand cancelled till further orders.

Internet services were also suspended in five districts including Saharanpur, Meerut, Aligarh, Mau and Kasganj to check rumour-mongering.

Mau witnessed large scale violence on Monday night when the protestors vandalised the Dakshintola police station and torched about 15 vehicles.

The police lobbed teargas shells and fired in the air to disperse the mob.

Security has also been beefed up at the BJP state headquarters in Lucknow and police officials have been asked to ensure security of party offices in various districts.

Azamgarh also joined in the protests and students from the Shibli College staged a demonstration outside the campus on Monday night as a mark of solidarity with the students of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, who are protesting against the CAA and NRC.

Ignoring the prohibitory orders, the students raised anti-BJP and RSS slogans while holding the national flag in their hands.

The students were supported by local units of the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party and the Rashtriya Ulema Council.

The agitators broke the police cordon and moved out of the campus to take out a procession in the city.

The situation also remained tense in Bareilly, Rampur, Allahabad and Mau.

Additional Chief Secretary (home) Awanish Awasthi said all District Magistrates (DM) and SSPs have been asked to remain in their headquarters.

Shamli SP Vineet Jaiswal visited Madarasas in Kairana and asked students to maintain peace and harmony.

Meerut SSP Ajay Sahni has deployed additional company of provincial armed constabulary (PAC) to maintain law and order.

In Muzaffarnagar, the district magistrate and the superintendent of police took out flag march and held peace meetings.

Agra SSP Babloo Kumar asked all circle officers and inspectors to maintain vigil in their areas and conduct round-the-clock patrolling in sensitive areas.

In Rae Bareli and Sultanpur, district police chiefs Swapnil Mamgain and Himanshu Kumar conducted marches in market places and interacted with members of peace committees.-IANS news