The Uttar Pradesh police have issued an alert to all district police chiefs to intensify vigil around mosques for Friday prayers. The directive comes after the violence in Kanpur on June 3.
Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was imposed in Kanpur and Lucknow for not allowing public gathering on roads and public places.
Additional director general (ADG) of police, Law and Order, Prashant Kumar said police deployment has been done strategically at sensitive and mixed population localities and places of worship across different districts. Police officials are in touch with clerics and other group leaders for maintaining peace and communal harmony, he added.
Another senior police official said special deployment has been made in sensitive districts including Firozabad, Shamli, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Agra, Ayodhya, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, and Lucknow. He said the police force carried out a riot control drill in some districts, including Firozabad.
He said there was extra alertness in Ayodhya, taking note of the rumours of a Bharat Bandh appeal on June 10 circulated on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.
He said 12 companies of provincial armed constabulary (PAC) are already camping in Kanpur while a few companies have been sent to sensitive districts.
{{/usCountry}}He said 12 companies of provincial armed constabulary (PAC) are already camping in Kanpur while a few companies have been sent to sensitive districts.
{{/usCountry}}In Kanpur, tight security arrangements were in place with the deployment of 12 companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), three additional IPS officers and two companies of the Rapid Action Force.
Police constituted a committee to look into cases of alleged wrong arrests after the June 3 violence in Kanpur.
The committee headed by joint commissioner of police Anand Prakash Tiwari has three other members – DCPs Pramod Kumar, BBTGS Murthy and ACP Mohd Akmal Khan.
In the last four days, the police arrested 54 people and were making efforts to establish the identity of at least 600 others allegedly involved in the clashes. A Special Investigation Team had also been formed to examine video and CCTV footages of the violence.
On Thursday, the Muslim clergy appealed to the community to keep calm. Shahar Qazi, Saqib Adeeb Misbahi said: “Communal harmony and peace are paramount. If the community members have any grievances, they should come to me and I would take it up with the authorities,” he said.
Another Shaher Qazi, Mushtaq Mushahidi, and the Sunni Ulema Council jointly appealed to the Muslims to go home straight away after the Friday prayers and cross-check information in case of any rumours.
“A lot of wrong information is in circulation, do not believe until you have cross-checked it,” said Haji Salees, convener of the council.
In Lucknow, leaders of some Hindu right-wing groups were placed under house arrest as a precautionary measure.
Some other religious leaders were under round the clock vigil.
The Firozabad district administration and police became alert on Thursday after owners of glass factories informed that Muslim workers in these units would abstain from work on Friday to participate in the rumoured Bharat Bandh call made to protest insult to the Prophet by a Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson who has since been suspended by the party.
Muslim clerics and Firozabad senior superintendent of police Ashish Tiwari jointly ruled out any such closure of factories or markets on Friday (June 10) and urged citizens to follow their routine without paying heed to rumours spread through social media and posters.
Muslim women staged a protest march in Firozabad seeking strict action against suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. These women handed over a memorandum to police officials at Rasoolpur police station in Firozabad city on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, a delegation of Islamic Centre of India, Lucknow, met additional chief secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi, demanding strict action against Nupur Sharma for committing blasphemy.
“Our delegation met ACS Home demanding strict action against Nupur Sharma for speaking ill against Prophet Mohammed. We also appealed UP government to bring a law to keep a check on such incidents in future in any religion,” said Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali, chairman of Islamic Centre of India in a statement issued on Thursday.
The delegation also handed over a four-point memorandum to the Uttar Pradesh government, urging it to ensure that no one’s religious sentiments are hurt and communal harmony is maintained in the state.