35 illegal firearms, ammunition recovered from three western UP districts

With the recovery of as many as 35 illegal firearms from three districts of western UP, the state police authorities on Sunday claimed that the violence witnessed

With the recovery of as many as 35 illegal firearms from three districts of western UP, the state police authorities on Sunday claimed that the violence witnessed in at least 16 districts during the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests over the past three days was the result of a “well-planned conspiracy”.

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Inspector general (IG) of police, law and order, Praveen Kumar said, “Around 35 illegal firearms were recovered from arrested miscreants in Firozabad, Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar. About 69 cartridges of non-prohibited bores and 647 bullet shells were also recovered from the arrested people as well as found lying at the scenes of violent protests in the past three days.”

He said that investigation into the violence and arson reported in different districts of the state suggested that anti-social elements present among protestors carried illegal firearms and opened fire on the crowds.

“Such a large recovery of illegal firearms, live cartridges and bullet shells of non-prohibited bore weapons clearly hints towards a major conspiracy behind the violence,” said Kumar.

“At least 288 police personnel were injured in the violence reported in 15 districts since Thursday afternoon. Of these, at least 61 personnel suffered injuries due to bullets fired from the crowd,” he added.

Earlier on Friday, UP director general of police OP Singh had also hinted at the possible involvement of people from West Bengal in the violent protests witnessed in Uttar Pradesh.