12 more people arrested in connection with Kanpur violence case

|HT|

At least 12 more people have been apprehended in connection with the violence that broke out in Kanpur on June 3, taking the total number of people taken in custody so far to 50. Besides, a 16-year-old accused surrendered at the Colonelgunj police station after his picture appeared on posters put up by police across the town.

Police said two more cases were registered against eight Facebook and Twitter users for posting inflammatory content, pushing the total users booked to 23.

A day ago, the Uttar Pradesh Police released posters with photos of 40 people who are accused of invoking the violence in Kanpur last week that left at least 40 people, 20 police personnel, injured. Police had gathered images of the alleged accused through several videos of the incident, including those captured on CCTV. A similar move was also made during the protests against the then Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in December 2019. The violence had broken out in the Pared, Nai Sadak, and Yateemkhana areas of Kanpur after some members of the minority community called for the closure of shops as part of a protest over alleged objectionable remarks made against Prophet Mohammed by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.

The violence soon spilled over to different localities, including Beconganj, Anwarganj, and Moolgunj. Protesters pelted stones, fired shots, and lobbed petrol bombs at police who in return used batons to disperse the mob.

The BJP on Sunday suspended its spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal after their alleged controversial remarks against the Prophet triggered massive protests and condemnation (even globally). Sharma had reportedly made controversial remarks while speaking about the Gyanvapi Mosque dispute in Varanasi during a TV news show.

The comments have led to a severe backlash from several countries, including Kuwait, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Libya, Maldives, Indonesia, the UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)