LUCKNOW: One person was killed while three were critically injured in the SC/ST violence that erupted in
Uttar Pradesh on Monday. Five districts in west UP that include Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Hapur, Agra and Bijnor witnessed the maximum violence with hundreds of protestors blocking highways, railway tracks and market areas. Several vehicles were torched and shops and public property was vandalized.
Reports of sporadic violence were also sounded out to
DGP headquarters from
Hathras,
Saharanpur, Shamli and Bulandshahr. While eastern UP remained silent largely, an ATM booth was vandalized in Gorakhpur while protestors also gathered in Azamgarh and torched buses.
In Lucknow a group of youths took out a silent protest march between Gomtinagar and Hazratganj.
Police detained about 450 persons and said that role of the suspects in the violence would be examined before they are let off from police stations. In Muzaffarnagar a resident of Bhopa area Amrish was killed while a shopkeeper was shot at in the neck in Hapur. Meerut police arrested a former BSP MLA
Yogesh Verma and maintained that he was responsible for fuelling violent protests in the district.
Additional director general of law and order Anand Kumar said that people who tried to vitiate atmosphere through social media in five districts in west UP were being identified besides the violent protestors. He also said that report has been sought from all districts to review their preparedness.
Deputy inspector general of law and order Praveen Kumar said that probe has been ordered to find out if the violence was planned in advance and identify people responsible for hatching the entire conspiracy.
In Lucknow a group of youths took out a silent protest march between Gomtinagar and Hazratganj.
