Uttar Pradesh Police arrested around 2000 people for violence over Agnipath scheme, Prophet remark

So far, over 1900 people have been arrested in connection with the violence that broke out during protests against Agnipath scheme and the controversial Prophet remarks.

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New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh police has arrested around 2000 people in connection with separate protests that broke out over the Agnipath scheme and objectionable remarks against Prophet Mohammad, PTI reported. As many as 1,562 people have been arrested owing to the violence that erupted during the agitation against the Centre’s Agnipath recruitment scheme, while another 424 people have been nabbed over the violence against the Prophet controversy, a senior officer said on Saturday (June 25). 

 Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said in a statement, "As many as 1,562 persons have been arrested in the state in connection with the 'Agnipath' violence. Of these, 535 arrests were made in Jaunpur, 222 in Ballia, and 210 in Chandauli. Eighty two cases were registered in this regard in 29 districts."

Agnipath protests in Uttar Pradesh

Several protestors had taken to streets against the Centre’s new armed forces recruitment scheme. On June 17, protests had turned violent at various places, including Ballia, Varanasi, Agra and Aligarh among other districts. The protesters in Khurja locality and the city area of Bulandshahr had also raised slogans against the central government demanding the withdrawal of the recruitment to defence services scheme. 

Protests against Prophet remark 

Earlier on June 3 and June 10, UP witnessed protests against the remarks of now-suspended BJP leaders Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal on the Prophet. As per the UP police, 20 cases have been filed so far and 424 people have been arrested from 10 districts -- Kanpur, Firozabad, Aligarh, Hathras, Moradabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Kheri, Jalaun, Saharanpur and Prayagraj.

The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government had also razed residences of the accused and alleged masterminds of the protests, for which it received flak from the Opposition. 

(With agency inputs)