Amid the unrest over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Varanasi, around 70 people were arrested and sent to jail on Thursday, 19 December, The Quint has learnt.
This was then confirmed by the SHO of Chetganj police station, Praveen Kumar, who said 68 people have been arrested.
UP police also released a photo in local newspapers, asking for the public’s help in identifying other protesters present at the site.
The accused have been charged under under Section 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting while being armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty), 341 (wrongful restraint) of the Indian Penal code.
Of the 70 people, 25 are from the Banaras Hindu University (BHU). They are currently lodged in the Chauka Gali jail, sources told The Quint. Their parents are only just getting to know about the arrest.
UP Police Releases Photo to Arrest Unidentified Accused
The police also got a picture, clicked at the protest site after the youth were detained, published in a local Hindi newspaper, in a bid to identify the remaining protesters.
The message below the photo reads, “The police has published this picture as a case has been registered against them. Whoever has information about their name, address etc should call 7839857011 and inform the police. The names of those who provide the information will be kept undisclosed and they will be rewarded.”
(This is a developing story)
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