CAA protests engulf more districts in UP

Protests against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) continued in Uttar Pradesh for the third day on Tuesday even as the police booked hundreds of protesters and made around 100 arrests so far.

The protests also reached the UP assembly, when Samajwadi Party (SP) legislators disrupted the proceedings of the house on the opening day of the winter session on Tuesday.

According to the reports, around 22 districts in the state have witnessed demonstrations against the CAA. Protests have also taken place in smaller towns in the state.

Internet services remained suspended in all the affected districts while prohibitory orders also remained clamped in the entire state. Several universities, including the prestigious Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), have deferred their examinations and advanced winter vacations.

Reports of demonstration against the CAA were received from Sambhal, Bareilly, Rampur, Sultanpur, Badayun and other places. Markets remained closed at many places, the reports said.

In Balrampur and Ayodhya districts, a few Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders were forcibly confined to their homes and not allowed to move out.

The situation in Mau, where curfew had been imposed in two police station areas following large scale violence on Monday, was peaceful with no reports of any untoward incidents from anywhere.

The state government on Tuesday shunted out the DIG of Azamgarh division on charges of laxity.

The government has warned that the National Security Act (NSA) would be slapped on those found to the indulging violence. ''We have orders to sternly deal with the protesters,'' said a senior police official here.