Bharat Bandh fails to have any impact in UP, day passes off peacefully

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Police (UPP) on Monday said Bharat Bandh call given by some outfits as a part of protest against Agnipath scheme, failed to leave any impact in the state and the day passed off peacefully with no untoward incident being reported from any part of the state. Police had put out a heavy security blanket across the state, for which 141 companies of PAC and 10 companies of central para-military forces were engaged.
Another 4,000 Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel were deployed at railway stations to counter any attempts of protests on railway property.As a precautionary measure, the state administration had clamped section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) - which prohibits assembly and movement of four or more people at a public place - in districts which have witnessed violent protests in the recent past against the Agnipath scheme. The list of such districts includes Ballia, Deoria, Jaunpur, and Gautam Buddh Nagar.
Another 25 persons were arrested for violence on Monday, taking the total number of arrests in the case to 475. Overall, 39 FIRs have been lodged.
A maximum of seven cases have been registered in Jaunpur and four each in Aligarh and Chandauli so far. Protesters had also indulged in arson in Jaunpur, Ballia, Jaunpur, Chandauli, Aligarh, Firozabad, and Varanasi districts.
In Varanasi, the district administration has also assessed the total value of losses after the June 17 protest in which 36 buses of UPSRTC were damaged. The total value assessed on the basis is Rs 12.79 lakh. The administration will soon gear up to start realizing this money from the protesters involved in the act.
Additional director general of police (law and order) Prashant Kumar said that the bandh had no impact in UP.
“Whosoever has been found indulging in violence and destruction of property and also is playing with the future of the youth will be taken to task and damages done to government or private property will be realised from them,” said Kumar.
Kumar also said that under the directives of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, police and administration have launched an extensive public outreach, also seeking the cooperation of the managers of the coaching centres, and several of them have appealed to the students against it.
He, however, warned that the coaching managers who are instigating the youth will be arrested and strict action will be taken against them. He also said that in the districts where violence was reported, and social media was used to gather crowds, admins of such accounts will be traced and dealt with under strict legal provisions.
“UP Police is confident that the scheme is important for national security and all our efforts are being made to make it successful,” Kumar said, adding that ex-servicemen and district officials are making the youth aware that the government is working for safeguarding their interest.
In all the major cities, senior officers remained deployed at the railway stations of their districts.