The Uttar Pradesh government declared 14 anti-CAA protesters as absconders including Shia cleric Maulana Saif Abbas and announced cash rewards for their arrest.
According to UP Police, eight of these protesters were declared wanted under Gangster Act and notices were pasted outside their houses.
Maulana Saif Abbas and others were charged with arson, spreading communal disharmony, and causing damage to public properties during the anti-CAA, NRC protest in Lucknow on 18-19 December 2019.
The posters that came up late Thursday, announced the reward of Rs 5,000 for anyone who provides information about the accused.
According to the police sources, Saif Abbas and 11 others of old city areas are still absconding. Three protesters Hassan, Irshad, and Alam, who featured on the poster, had surrendered in the court on Thursday, police said.
Saif Abbas
Maulana Saif Abbas, also known as Syed Saif Abbas Naqvi, who is president of the office of Shia Markazi Chand Committee in Lucknow is one of the prominent Shia clerics in the country.
Abbas was also a former member of Haj Committee of India.
The posters carrying pictures of the accused also include Kalbe Sibten Noori, son of Shia cleric Kalbe Sadiq.
In the first week of March 2020, UP police have put up several hoardings across Lucknow identifying those accused of violence during the protests against CAA in December last. The names, photographs, and residential addresses of the accused are listed in the hoardings and the hoardings included picture of Saif Abbas. The high court had termed the action as an encroachment on the personal liberty of individuals.
