Police said miscreants pelted stones, damaged public and government vehicles and also opened fire, but the situation had been brought under control.
SIX people were injured, including two critically, as clashes erupted between police and anti-CAA protesters in Uparkot area of Aligarh on Sunday evening. Among the injured were two policemen.
The father of one of those injured said his son was a bystander who had been fired at by a person whom he could identify. Four others suffered injuries, two of them in their eyes, with one of them likely to lose his left eye, according to doctors treating them.
District Magistrate Chandra Bhushan Singh said there had been no firing from police side.
Police said miscreants pelted stones, damaged public and government vehicles and also opened fire, but the situation had been brought under control. Police also used teargas to disperse the crowd. A shop was partly burnt in the violence.
A heavy contingent of police remains deployed in the area, while Internet services were suspended in the district for 24 hours.
“It took us around 10-15 minutes to bring the situation under control,” said DM Singh.
He accused women students of Aligarh Muslim University of instigating the protesters and said their roles would be probed. “We will seek compensation for the damages from people involved in the violence,” he added.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (Aligarh Range) Preetinder Singh told PTI that some persons were detained after the violence.
A large group of women along with children have been staging a protest against the CAA and the proposed National Register of Citizens outside Shahjamal Eidgah in Aligarh since last month. In the first week of February, the Aligarh police had issued notices to 153 of them to sign a bond promising to maintain peace.
On Thursday, following rain, the protesters sought permission to set up a tent. After they were turned down, a section began a protest outside the Uparkot Police Station. Police had been trying to convince them to disperse fearing violence.
The clashes broke out shortly after a Bhim Army-led march by hundreds of anti-CAA protesters heading to the district collectorate was stopped by police and Rapid Action Force jawans. The protesters then headed towards the Eidgah area.
Station House Officer, Uparkot Police Station, Ravindra Kumar Singh said that towards evening, some of the women started pelting stones at a police vehicle at the station. When stopped, they allegedly damaged vehicles parked on the road as well as attacked shops. Singh said another group of protesters attacked vehicles in the nearby Babri Mandi area.
According to PTI, the father and brother of 22-year-old Tariq, who received bullet injuries, told police he was shot in the stomach by a “miscreant” as he stood outside his home. Tariq was admitted to Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital at AMU, where doctors described his condition as “serious”.
A hospital spokesperson said five people had been admitted to the hospital after clashes. One of them, 25-year-old Mohammad Ibrahim, had pellet injury in his left eye, the spokesperson said, adding that while they had done an operation, he could lose his vision in that eye. The spokesperson said two other injured, Rashid, 20, and Kalim 22, with eye injury and with rubber bullet injuries in the chest, respectively, were out of danger.
Source: The Indian Express
