Lathis, helmets in UP govt's list of losses

Cost of lathis and helmets, broken in the violence during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Uttar Pradesh last week, were included besides other things while calculating the loss of public properties by the state government as it fast-tracked sending of notices for recovery after chief minister Yogi Adityanath vowed to 'avenge' the losses.

Incidentally, many of those, who were served the notices, were petty street vendors, who barely managed to make two ends meet.

According to the sources the police in UP's Rampur town, about 325 kilometres from here, has sent notices to 28 people for the recovery of loss of public properties worth rs. 15 lakh. The district administration has included the cost of broken lathis and helmets, torching of jeep and motorcycles and barricades while calculating the losses.

In Meerut also, the administration has sent notices to 24 people for the recovery of losses worth rs. 40 lakh, sources said.

The officials said that attachment proceedings would be launched against those, who failed to either give a satisfactory explanation or pay the penalty.

In Muzaffarnagar town, the administration has sealed dozens of shops to force the protesters to pay the penalty.

Dozens of alleged protesters have been served notices in the state capital of Lucknow also following Thursday's violence that left one dead and scores others injured.

Adityanath, soon after the violence in Lucknow, said that the government would 'avenge' the loss of public properties from the protesters.

As many as 20 people were killed in the violence during protests against the CAA in several parts of the state last week. Around one thousand people have so far been arrested in connection with the violence.

Police were accused of indiscriminate arrests and harassing women and looting valuable articles during the raids.