A youth whose family had claimed he was a minor has been granted bail by the Allahabad High Court in the case of alleged rioting and violence by protesters demonstrating against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Azamgarh in February.
The youth was among the 20 arrested and 35 named in the FIR in connection with the protests at the Maulana Ali Jauhar Park in Bilariaganj on February 4-5. The accused faced several charges including criminal conspiracy, sedition, attempt to murder and rioting. The protesters, comprising a large number of women, however, had accused the police of brutality without provocation and forcefully dispersing them with lathi-charge, leaving several persons injured.
One of the co-accused, Tahir Madni, general secretary of a local political outfit Rashtriya Ulema Council, was granted bail in the case by the court on May 15.
A Bench of Justice Siddharth granted bail to the youth, languishing in jail since February 6.
“The case of the applicant stands on identical footing [with Mr. Madni’s bail], hence the applicant is also entitled for bail on the ground of parity,” the court said in an order dated June 2.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had visited Azamgarh to meet those women affected by alleged police brutality while trying to stage a sit-in against the CAA and the NRC in Bilariaganj.