Uttar Pradesh govt to seize property of 373 protesters for arson during anti-Citizenship Act protests; 213 FIRs registered till now

The Uttar Pradesh government will seize the property of 373 anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protesters who resorted to violence and damaged public property in the state. The government has already issued a notice to these protesters warning them of the confiscation of their property over rioting. 

The maximum number of protesters who have received the notice are in Moradabad (200), followed by Lucknow (110), Gorakhpur (34), and Firozabad (29). Strict action will be taken against those who damaged the public property during the CAA protests in the state from December 10-24.

According to the data released by the Lucknow DGP Headquarters, a total of 213 FIRs have been registered in the state so far against demonstrators for protests, sabotage and arson since December 10 while 925 accused have been arrested. Prohibitory orders have been taken against 5,558 people. A total of 81 FIRs have been registered for posting objectionable content in social media and 120 accused have been arrested. Action has been taken on 7,513 Twitter posts, 9,076 Facebook posts, and 172 YouTube videos. 

So far 19 people have died in the protests in Uttar Pradesh. A total of 288 policemen were injured of which 61 policemen were injured by firearms.

Protests against the Act were witnessed in the state since the start of December and it had turned violent in different parts of the city last week.
Several vehicles were torched in Rampur by rioters and clashes with police rocked Gorakhpur, Bulandshahr, Sambhal, Bijnor, Varanasi, Kanpur, Agra, Meerut, Firozabad and other parts of the state. Internet services were snapped, schools and colleges shut down and section 144 was also imposed across the state due to the protests.

Protests erupted in different parts of the country including Uttar Pradesh over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, which seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and came to India on or before December 31, 2014.