Mau violence: Yogi warns lax officials of stern action
Reacting to disturbances in half-a-dozen districts of the state over Citizenship Amended Act, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath warned officials of stern action if negligence was found in tackling law and order situation.
Interacting with district police chiefs and district magistrates through video-conferencing on Monday night, Yogi warned officials of Meerut, Aligarh, Lucknow, Mau, Saharanpur over violence and protests by students and asked them to handle the situation with iron fist.
Taking a serious view of arson and violence in Mau, Yogi also directed ADG (Prosecution) Ashutosh Pandey to rush to the troubled district, take stock of the situation and send him a detailed report so that necessary follow-up action could be taken against lax officials who allowed violence.
On Monday, Yogi had cancelled the leaves of all district officials for the next one week.
On Tuesday, 19 people were arrested in connection with Monday night’s violence, which erupted over police action against students of Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi.
On Monday night, the protesters had vandalised a police station and torched vehicles in protest against the CAA and police action at Jamia. This prompted police to lob teargas shells and open fire in the air.
“In connection with Monday’s violence in Dakshintola area of Mau, as many as 24 persons were identified and 19 were arrested. Mischief-mongers are being identified through video footages and photos are being published in newspapers,” Additional DG (Prosecution) Ashutosh Pandey told reporters on Tuesday.
Pandey added, “Internet has been suspended in the district till further orders. RAF and PAC personnel have been deployed and additional force requistioned from nearby districts of Ballia, Ghazipur and Azamgarh. The situation is normal now.”
In Lucknow, DGP OP Singh said, “Curfew has not been imposed in Mau, but the situation is being strictly monitored. An ADG-rank officer from Lucknow has been sent to the district. The situation is completely normal now.”
Meanwhile, all schools, colleges and madrasas have been shut in view of the violence in Mau. Videos of violence, which went viral on social media, showed the computer room of Mau’s Dakshintola police station being vandalised with chairs and computers being damaged. A portion of the boundary wall of the police station was also damaged and firemen could be seen extinguishing the flames in one corner of the police station.
SHO of Dakshintola police station Nihar Nandan Kumar had said on Monday, “Over 300 people barged into the police station premises between 5 pm and 6 pm and broke the boundary wall. There have been some minor damages.”
However, an eyewitness had earlier said that protesters set ablaze 15 vehicles, including those of the police.
District Magistrate of Mau Gyanprakash Tripathi had told reporters on Monday that some youths from Mirza Hadipur had planned to submit a memorandum to protest police action at Delhi’s Jamia University.
“Subsequently, crowd swelled up and police reached the spot and tried to remove them. This angered the crowd and they resorted to stone-pelting near Dakshintola police station and set a few vehicles ablaze. No one was injured,” he said.
Tripathi had also said that motorcycles of a few journalists and cops were set ablaze by the protestors. “Police resorted to mild use of force and controlled the situation. Guilty persons are being identified through CCTV footages and they will be booked,” the DM said.
