Will Take Revenge, Auction Rioters’ Property: Yogi on Unrest in UP

About 20 people have been taken into custody in Lucknow. 

(Photo: ANI/Altered by The Quint)

Video Producer: Shohini Bose
Video Editor: Vivek Gupta

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday, 19 December, said his government will take “revenge” on those involved in the violence over the amended Citizenship Act by auctioning their property to compensate for the losses.

“They have been captured in video and CCTV footage. We will take 'badla' (revenge) on them,” Adityanath said.

“There is no place for violence in a democracy. In the name of opposing the CAA, the Congress, SP and Left parties have pushed the entire country to fire,” Adiyanath added.

Adityanath’s comments come as protests turned violent in Lucknow and other parts of Uttar Pradesh as police struggled to contain the fallout of the amended Citizenship Act on Thursday.

The scattered incidents of violence were reported from Lucknow’s old city and parts of Sambhal and Mau districts, PTI reported.

Vehicles Torched, Stones Hurled

Anti-citizenship law protesters went berserk in parts of Lucknow on Thursday, hurling stones and damaging police outposts and a number of vehicles mainly in the Old City areas of the Uttar Pradesh capital, forcing police to use tear gas shells to control the situation.

The protesters torched a state-run bus at Parivartan Chowk, close to the district magistrate’s office, and set on fire a police post in Satkhanda area, according to PTI.

Another police post was damaged in old Lucknow's Madeyganj, where police fired tear-gas shells after protesters smashed vehicles parked outside a police post. About 20 people were taken into custody.

In several areas, including Hasanganj, policemen had a tough time tackling the protesters, who adopted a hit-and-run tactic, officials said. A few policemen were injured in the violence.

At Parivartan Chowk, which appeared to be the epicentre of the agitation, policemen faced brickbats and the van of a television crew was damaged.

The gates of the nearby KD Singh metro station were shut to keep protesters from gathering at Parivartan Chowk.

Man Killed as Protests Turn Violent in Lucknow: Report

A man died of firearm injury during a violent protest against the amended citizenship law in Lucknow, an official said, according to PTI.

“Mohammad Wakeel (25) died of firearm injury here,” King George’s Medical University (KGMU) Trauma Centre in-charge Sandeep Tiwari told PTI.

“Two other patients are undergoing treatment in the trauma centre and one of them has firearm injury," he said.

However, Uttar Pradesh DGP OP Singh refuted the claims and said, “Firing was not done from our side. I do not know how that death occurred. I do not think it has anything to do with this agitation or police action,” ANI reported.

Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which prohibits unlawful assembly, is in force in the state and no permission for any gathering has been given for 19 December, OP Singh had said earlier.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)