Kanpur clashes: Police probe hints at use of petrol bombs, advance planning

KANPUR: The Special Investigating Team (SIT) probing the June 3 clashes in Kanpur are now probing leads pointing towards use of petrol bombs in the violence. Sleuths are now scanning CCTV footage to confirm the leads and are also gathering evidence to establish if petrol was bought from fuel stations in bottles before the violence that left over a dozen, including cops, injured.
This will help the investigators establish the time when preparations for the violence began and if it was pre-planned. The SIT has now roped in forensic experts to corroborate some leads they have gathered.
Sources said the SIT reached the spot with three teams of forensics on Wednesday. “The three forensic teams conducted a thorough inspection at Nai Sadak, Dada Mian Ka Hata, Chandreshwar Hata and Talaq Mahal. Videography of the places where the stones were planted was done. During this, the team also found some empty bottles smelling of petrol,” said a senior police official who is part of the SIT.
To recall, the licence of a fuel station was suspended by the district administration on Sunday after it came across video clips wherein employees of a fuel station were found to be selling petrol to customers in the bottles.
During the investigation, it was found in the CCTV footage of the petrol pump located at the Deputy Padav area, in the vicinity of the violence-hit areas, that petrol was given in a bottle to customers by petrol pump employees on June 2 and June 3.
Meanwhile, police on Thursday arrested a man, identified as Gaurav Rajput, for allegedly posting inflammatory posts on social media platforms. He had made objectionable remarks about a religion.
According to joint commissioner Anant Prakash Tiwari, he has instructed the Cyber Crime Branch to monitor all social media platforms.
In view of the Friday prayers today, prohibitory orders (section 144, CrPC) have been clamped in Kanpur till further notice. Muslim clerics have appealed to people to go directly to their houses after Friday’s prayers today and not loiter in streets.