E-Paper
24 held in Hathras, random protests in Firozabad
In Hathras, hundreds gathered after offering namaz and took out a protest march. They hurled stones when police intervened. In Firozabad, protests were held at Nal Bandan and Jatavpuri but presence of heavy force kept the situation under control.
Agra About 24 people were arrested after a protest post Friday namaz turned violent in Purdilnagar town of Hathras. Hundreds gathered after offering namaz at the mosque and took out a protest march. The mob burnt effigies of now-suspended BJP workers Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal for their controversial remarks. When police intervened, the mob resorted to pelting stones, injuring a constable.
DIG Aligarh Range Deepak Kumar rushed to the town and the situation was brought under control. Heavy force was deployed to maintain peace.
In Firozabad too, there were random protests. Many of the ‘namazis’ wore black bands on their arms. Protests were held at Nal Bandan and Jatavpuri but presence of heavy force kept the situation under control..
Later in the day, some protestors moved towards the busy Agra-Kanpur highway but police were alert and diverted traffic from Raja Ka Tal. Some protestors were taken into custody although police officials did not confirm this..
“The situation is well under control after random protests at two or three places in the city area, although there were no protests in the rural belt of Firozabad district. Exact details are not available about those taken into custody, as the focus is on maintaining law and order,” said Akhilesh Narain, superintendent of police (rural), Firozabad.
Many glass units and markets dominated by Muslims remained closed.
A group of clerics reached the office of SSP Firozabad Ashish Tiwari and handed over a memorandum addressed to the President of India seeking stringent action against BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for objectionable comment against Prophet Mohammad.
Aligarh, Agra, Kasganj, Mathura, Etah and Mainpuri were by and large peaceful.
