On receiving information about the protest, additional personnel reached the spot and used force to disperse the crowd. (Representational Image)
Police in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh arrested 42 villagers, including three women, on Monday for allegedly pelting stones at a police outpost in the Izzatnagar police station area as rumours spread that a young man had fainted after being assaulted by the police for violating lockdown rules.
They have been charged with attempt to murder. Till last week, there had been at least six attacks on the police for attempting to enforce the lockdown.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Ravindra Kumar said two officials from the force went to Karampur Chaudhary village earlier in the day, and found people were out on the road and not following social-distancing norms.
When they objected, a group of villagers started arguing. The policemen caught hold of a youth and brought him to the Barrier One police outpost.
At that moment, the man fell unconscious, according to the police. As rumours about the incident spread fast, a group of villagers reached the outpost and started protesting, said officials. They allegedly pelted the police with stones and raised slogans. Three policemen, including Assistant Superintendent of Police Abhishek Verma, received minor injuries.
On receiving information about the protest, additional personnel reached the spot and used force to disperse the crowd. The youth was taken to hospital. Doctors did not find any injuries on his body, according to the police.
“Police are identifying the accused through footage of the incident. So far, 42 persons have been arrested,” said Kumar.
33 more cases filed under Essential Commodities Act in UP
Lucknow: With the state government filing 33 new cases under the Essential Commodities Act on Monday, 203 such cases have been registered during the lockdown.
The police have lodged 9,955 FIRs for disobedience of orders duly promulgated by a public servant.
In the last 13 days, the police claimed to have checked 11,36,214 vehicles, and penalised 2,45,899 of them. They also seized 17,244 vehicles, collecting around Rs 4.72 crore in fines.