Anti-CAA protests in Lucknow: Gangster Act invoked against 15 involved in Dec 19 violence

Lucknow: Lucknow Police on Monday imposed Gangster Act against 15 rioters under Kaiserbagh Police Station in connection with the loot and setting a police outpost ablaze on December 19 last year in a protest against the Citizenship Act.

According to the police, out of the fifteen accused, six have been arrested while the hunt for the other nine is still on. 

Assistant Commissioner of Police Kaiserbagh IP Singh said, "The police decided to book them under Gangster Act as investigations have confirmed that they acted as a gang and intentionally targeted police outpost and police personnel during the violence."

"The police have sufficient evidence against them to justify imposing of Gangster Act against them," Singh said.

Earlier on March 13, Thakurganj Police had slapped Gangster Act against 28 anti-CAA protesters. Protests erupted in several parts of the country last year, including Uttar Pradesh, over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, which grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists, and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

Section-144, prohibiting the assembly of more than four people in an area, was imposed in various parts of the state in view of the law and order situation.