Vijendra Kumar feels he has been granted a second life.
Kumar, a police constable in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad, had a narrow escape on Saturday after a bullet fired during a protest against the citizenship act pierced through his bulletproof vest and got stuck in his wallet inside his jacket.
“I was on duty in the Nalband area when some of the protestors opened fire at us… There were four ATM cards and some pictures of Shiv Ji and Sai Baba. It feels like this is my second life,” Kumar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Large-scale violence broke out in several districts, including Firozabad, of the state soon after the Friday prayers.
The state-wide death toll of the protesters now stands at 17. Inspector general (IG) of police (law and order) Praveen Kumar confirmed that 15 people have died since Friday, including four in Meerut and two each in Kanpur, Firozabad, Bijnor and Sambhal, and one each in Rampur and Muzaffarnagar.
{{/usCountry}}The state-wide death toll of the protesters now stands at 17. Inspector general (IG) of police (law and order) Praveen Kumar confirmed that 15 people have died since Friday, including four in Meerut and two each in Kanpur, Firozabad, Bijnor and Sambhal, and one each in Rampur and Muzaffarnagar.
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Officials have said the law and order situation in the region is under control now.
“This goes to show that Uttar Pradesh police is committed to the service of the public and that the safety and security of the people is our first priority. The situation is under control now and appropriate forces have been deployed in sensitive areas,” a senior police officer said, according to ANI.
Kumar said that at least 705 people have been arrested so far and 124 first information reports have been registered across the state — at least 11 more were arrested on Saturday in Kanpur and another 22 in Gorakhpur, where protests had occurred Friday.
He said that police deployment has been increased in over a dozen districts, and central paramilitary forces are in Kanpur, Meerut, Firozabad, Rampur and Sambhal.
A senior home department official told HT that the mobile and broadband internet shutdown has been extended till December 23 in at least 15 districts.