The Uttar Pradesh Police (UPP) invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against 139 people in the state, more than half (76) of which were for cow slaughter, according report by The Indian Express quoting Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi.
Forty four of these arrests were made in the Bareilly police zone as of the end of August.
Comparatively, for crimes against women and children, the NSA was used only six times. It was invoked 37 times for heinous crimes and 20 times for other offences. Out of the 139 arrests, 13 were related to anti-CAA protests.
The NSA allows the state to arrest and detain someone upto 12 months, without a charge, if they are considered a threat to the security of the state.
“Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed that the NSA be slapped in case of crimes which may affect public order so that there is a feeling of fear among criminals and a feeling of safety among the public,” Awasthi told the publication.
The Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act was used to register 1,716 FIRs while a total of 4,000 people were arrested under the same during the same period.
A man was arrested in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, on charges of cow slaughter under the NSA on September 6. The first two people arrested in Bareilly under the NSA on suspicion of cow slaughter were in their early 20s and were believed to be part of a group of six from Bijnor that was found in possession of cow meat and slaughter weapons.
By August, 11 more people were held under the NSA in Bijnor, all related to cow slaughter.
Badaun and Bareilly both had 12 NSA arrests till August.
For anti-CAA protests, the NSA had been invoked on a maximum of five people each in both Aligarh and Mau.
Aside from the NSA, the UPP invoked the UP Gangsters’ Act against 2,384 people and the Goonda Act against 1,742 people.
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