People pelted stones at the police personnel deployed in the region!
10 People pelted stones at police personnel in Prayagraj and Saharanpur and massive protests broke out after Friday prayers in at least four other cities in Uttar Pradesh over a now-suspended BJP leader's recent remarks on Prophet Mohammad.
Police have arrested more than 130 people from six districts of the state.
In Prayagraj, some vehicles were set on fire and an attempt was made to set ablaze a police vehicle. Police used tear gas and lathis to disperse mobs and peace was later restored in the state, they said, adding that one policeman was hurt in the region.
"As many as 136 protesting people were arrested from six districts of the state till 9.45 pm on Friday," Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said.
He said 45 protesters were arrested from Saharanpur, 37 from Prayagraj, 23 people from Ambedkar Nagar, 20 from Hathras, seven from Moradabad, and four from Firozabad district.
There was slogan-shouting against the now-suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma over her remarks during a TV debate, which also triggered outrage in several Islamic nations.
In Saharanpur, protesters demanded the death sentence for her.
There were also protests in Bijnor, Moradabad, Rampur and Lucknow over the controversial remarks. Sloganeering took place in Lucknow.
According to the local people, stone-pelting continued for over 15 minutes in Prayagraj. They said some of the people pelted stones at the police personnel deployed on the main road and the situation escalated when more people joined the stone patters.
Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said, "Because of our preparedness, no life has been lost. We will take strict action against those found involved in the violence."
Additional Director General (ADG), Parayagraj Zone, Prem Prakash said a constable of Rapid Action Force (RAF) was injured during stone-pelting in the region.
In Saharanpur, people holding placards raised slogans against Nupur Sharma.
Some of them also turned violent after the security personnel tried to stop them.
This led to brief stone-pelting in the Nehru market area of the city. Some madrasa students also raised slogans in the Deoband area.
District Magistrate Akhilesh Singh told PTI, "Police had to retort to force when the protesters refused to hear the appeals of peace by police personnel. The protestors are being identified using CCTV footage for further action." Four people, including the district president of AIMIM, were arrested in Bijnor as a precautionary measure.
Superintendent of Police Dharamveer Singh said AIMIM district chief Abdullah along with one Iftekhar, Mahroof and Akil were arrested for inciting communal hatred.
In Kanpur, the Friday prayers were held in a peaceful manner with no reports of any incident.
The Friday prayers were held under a watertight security vigil by police personnel.
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