In the past 24 hours, seventeen more people have been detained in simultaneous searches in four districts of Uttar Pradesh in an effort to apprehend those allegedly responsible for the protests that broke out on 10 June after the Friday prayers over a contentious statement made about the prophet Muhammed.
The number of people arrested by the police in the two states increased to 200 in West Bengal and 350 in Uttar Pradesh. The U.P. police have filed 13 FIRs, while their West Bengal counterparts have filed 42 FIRs so far.
All arrestees are Muslims, sources said.
For their alleged involvement in the protest, 92 people have been arrested from Prayagraj, 84 from Saharanpur, 55 from Hathras, 41 from Ambedkarnagar, and 40 from Moradabad.
ADG (law and order) of UP, Prashant Kumar said to reporters that 20 people were detained in Firozabad, seven in Lakhimpur Kheri, six in Aligarh, and five in Jalaun.
According to Kumar’s West Bengal counterpart Jawed Shamim, no one has been killed or seriously hurt, and FIRs have been filed for road blockade, assault, rioting, damage to public property, and inciting racial animosity.
“No one will be spared.” At the State Secretariat, Shamim warned reporters that “we will identify everyone and take strict action.”
According to police sources, Prayagraj and Saharanpur all had three FIRs apiece, while Firozabad, Aligarh, Hathras, Moradabad, Ambedkarnagar, Jalaun, and Lakhimpur Kheri each had one. In the FIRs, 5,500 unidentifiable people and little under 200 names were included.
As many as 29 Muslims have been arrested in connection with the protests, informed police on Wednesday. “A total of 29 people have been arrested so far in connection with the violence in Ranchi on Friday, 10th June,” said Ranchi Police.
In Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, ten Muslims were booked for unlawful assembly, two days after the protests.
Meanwhile, protests are rising from various parts of the country.
A group of lawyers who had approached the Allahabad High Court against the demolition of the house of Javed Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of the violence that took place in Prayagraj, were told by the Chief Justice to file a regular petition.
In the national capital Delhi, a number of student organisations staged protests on Monday at Jamia Millia Islamia, Jawaharlal Nehru University, UP Bhavan, and Jantar Mantar in solidarity with prominent Muslim activists Javed Mohammed and Afreen Fatima whose house was razed by civic authorities a day after the country witnessed massive gatherings of Muslims against BJP politicians’ derogatory comments against prophet Muhammed.
