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Licensed arms brought during Friday protests, will be cancelled: Ghaziabad police
Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad
The Ghaziabad police on Tuesday said that their investigations have suggested that at least 85 people from Kaila Bhatta locality — who had joined an anti- CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) protest on December 20 (Friday) — were allegedly carrying their licenced weapons with them.
Officers said that they will initiate a process for cancellation of the arms licences of all such persons.
Large scale protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and a possible country-wide NRC exercise had ensued after last week’s Friday prayers, with around 10,000-12,000 agitators taking to the streets and clashing with the police across Ghaziabad district .
The police have registered 7 FIRs so far in connection to the incident at Loni, Loni Border, Muradnagar, Sahibabad and Kotwali police stations. In the FIRs, at least 304 people were identified, while around 4,850 others remained unknown.
“We had intelligence inputs stating that such a situation was building up in Ghaziabad. As a result there was proper deployment of police and Provincial Armed Constabulary personnel. We were able to contain the rioters and there was no major damage to public property or any loss of life,” said Sudhir Kumar Singh, senior superintendent of police (SSP).
“We have also have received inputs that during the incident at PSC Chowk, near Kaila Bhatta, around 85 people, armed with their licenced firearms, had come to join the rioters. This could have proved dangerous. We will cancel the arms licences of all such suspects. Our intelligence team, meanwhile, is gathering similar information in other areas. All such licenses will be cancelled,” SSP added.
As a precautionary measure, the police officers have asked for security deployment in areas where the protests took place. Local intelligence personnel have also been roped in.
The SSP, however, said no separate inquiry will be made into the incidents of Ghaziabad.
“We were able to contain the situation and there was no loss of life. We have video evidence of people involved and proper FIRs have been lodged. So there is no need for a separate inquiry,” SSP added.
The cops are looking at CCTV footages and also pulling pictures to identify all suspects inbvolved in Friday’s violence. The police have also put up hoardings with pictures of suspects in Loni and Muradnagar areas.
“The idea of putting up hoardings has done well. We have received about 45+ calls and a number of WhatsApp messages from people who have told us about the suspects involved in the incident. As a result, we have arrested two men from Muradnagar and 27 from Loni so far. The SHOs have been specifically told that arrests would be made only after verification and proper evidence,” said Neeraj Kumar Jadaun, superintendent of police (rural).
“During questioning of 7-8 suspects in Loni, we came to know that they were not involved in rioting and were let off. Further, officers have also been asked to stop the night raids at hideouts of suspects, because in some cases we have faced resistance from women,” he added.
