Police didn't open fire during protests: UP DGP
December 21, 2019 17:16
The Uttar Pradesh Police chief on Saturday maintained that police did not open fire during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, suggesting that those who died were caught in cross-firing between protesters.
At least 11 people, including an 8-year-old boy, died as protests against the contentious law in the state turned violent on Friday.
According to officials, four deaths were reported from Meerut district and two from Kanpur and the boy was killed in a stampede in Varanasi when a violent mob was being chased by policemen.
Two people lost their lives in Bijnor and one each in Sambhal and Firozabad, they said.
"All the deaths took place in cross-firing and this will become clear in the post-mortem examination," said Director General of Police (DGP), Uttar Pradesh, O P Singh.
"We are clear and transparent on this. If anyone died due to our firing, we will conduct a judicial inquiry and take action. But nothing happened from our side," he asserted.
On Friday, protesters clashed with police at several places in the state, hurling stones at them and torching vehicles. Fifty policemen were seriously injured in the violence, the officials said.
Of the 75 districts in the state, one-fourth have been affected. Thousands gathered after Friday prayers and defied the law, Singh said.
He said "outsiders" were involved in the violence and members of political parties and NGOs could also have been present.
According to the DGP, police had reached out to religious leaders and they had assured that there would be peace.
"But still protesters gathered and indulged in violence and at some places they also fired with illegal weapons," he said.
Police had no option but to resort to lathi-charge to chase them away, he said, adding that tear gas shells were also fired. -- PTI
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