Vadodara anti-CAA protest organizers to face action

VADODARA: Organizers of a protest programme against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the minority community dominated Tandalja area are likely to face punitive action as they had not sought permission for the sit-in.
The protesters, mostly women and children, had been sitting on a dharna in an open plot at Saudagar Park since Friday. On Saturday too, they continued with the protests and flashed anti-CAA as well as anti-RSS banners. On Sunday, the pandal was removed from the spot and power connection too was disconnected.
Police said that the pandal removed by the supplier.
"We learnt about the protest that started on Friday and started investigation into it. The organizers hadn't sought any permission from the police. We will book them for organizing gathering and using loudspeakers without any police permission," said Anupam Singh Gahlaut, city police commissioner.
Interestingly, when the cops began looking for the organizers, no one claimed responsibility for the dharna.programme
"The organizers had put the pandal for a day under the pretext of organizing a private programme. The event organizer who had rented them the pandal took it away on Sunday. We had no role in it," a senior police official said.
"They said that it was a voluntary dharna. But our investigations have revealed Sagir Ahmed Ansar, who was recently booked for sharing an inflammatory post against some doctors over CAA issue, was involved in organizing the dharna along with a councillor. Ansari was booked for the post and he is currently on anticipatory bail," a police official said.
When Ansari and others were called to the crime branch to inquire about their role in the protests, they denied having organized it.