Uttar Pradesh cops make indiscriminate arrests

Allegedly under pressure from the government, the Uttar Pradesh police have been making indiscriminate arrests in connection with last month's violent protests against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act in the state.

The Uttar Pradesh cops have come under attack from different quarters for not even conducting preliminary inquiry before making arrests and booking dead, children, sick and old people. In many cases, the cops allegedly broke into homes and picked up the male members without assigning any reason to the family members.

The police were specifically targetting the social activists, many of whom have already been vocal against the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state over issues, including the abrogation of Article 370 and the suspension of internet in Jammu & Kashmir.

According to reports, two persons, who are in their nineties, have been booked by the police for torching public properties in Firozabad district.

The police had also arrested two government employees for indulging in violence while protesting against CAA in Farrukhabad district though they were present in their offices. After spending ten days in jail, the two were released by the cops stating that they did not have any evidence against them.

According to the reports from different parts of the state, the parents of many arrested youths have claimed that their children were somewhere else at the time of the protests and that the police had picked them up from their homes.

Reports said that the police had not given the postmortem reports to the family members of those who were allegedly killed in police firing during the CAA protests in different parts in the state.

''The state government is not making the postmortem reports of those killed in the violence public....this government can also change the reports,'' Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav said here on Friday.

''Police have been making arrests without having any evidence.....the government is biased against the Muslims....it is also targetting the social activists,'' said Magsaysay awardee Sandeep Pandey here. In an open letter to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Pandey has questioned the police action.

An office bearer of Rihai Manch, a voluntary organisation working in the field of human rights, also echoed similar sentiments. ''The president of our organisation Mohammed Shaib was picked from his home around midnight on December 19.....he was under house arrest since December 18,'' said Rajiv Yadav, a Manch office bearer.