CAA protest-toll reached 18 in Uttar Pradesh

After three days of violent protest against the controversial CAA, Uttar Pradesh remained peaceful on Sunday even as the toll in the violence rose to 18 with two more people succumbing to their injuries in the hospital.

Although there was no report of any untoward incident from anywhere in the state, a large number of women took our a procession in Hapur town, about 450 km from here, to protest against the CAA.

According to police sources here, over 900 protesters have so far been arrested from different parts of the state and 12,000 others have been booked in connection with the violence.

The government also started the process of recovery from the protesters who were involved in destroying public properties.

"We have started sealing the properties of offenders," a senior government official told DH here.

A senior police official said that over 250 cops suffered injuries in clashes against protesters.

"Over 50 cops have suffered bullet injuries," he said, reiterating that the police did not open fire anywhere in the state.

A video, that was upload on social sites, however, showed a cop chasing the protesters with a revolver in his hand.

He was also seen opening fire at the protesters.

Hospital sources have also attributed at least 17 deaths to bullet wounds.

Police sources said that the process of identification of the protesters was continuing and more arrests were likely to be made in the next few days.

Six residents of West Bengal's Malda district were also arrested in connection with violent protests in Lucknow on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the blame game over a massive protest in UP has also started with rival parties holding each other responsible for the violence.

BJP state unit president Swatantra Dev Singh accused the Opposition parties of inciting people while Samajwadi Party Supremo Akhilesh Yadav held the Saffron party responsible for the violence.

"BJP is deliberately fanning trouble in the state and it has the backing of the state government," Akhilesh told reported here.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who visited the family of a Muslim youth who was killed in the violence in Bijnore district on Sunday said that BJP government at the Centre had brought the CAA to divert the attention of the people from pressing issues like inflation and unemployment.

"The country will never accept CAA. It is anti-poor," Priyanka said.

A Trinamool Congress delegation comprising party MPs, which arrived at the Lucknow airport to meet the victims of Thursday's violence, was turned back by the authorities from the airport itself.