Lucknow, June 18 (UNI) Police in Uttar Pradesh have arrested 269 people till Saturday in connection with the violent protests against Agnipath Recruitment Scheme launched by the union government since Thursday.
A police spokesman said that while 101 people have been arrested in connection with violence, 168 have been arrested under Section 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) after 15 cases were lodged in nine districts in the state.
"While four cases each have been filed in Varanasi commissionerate and Mathura, one case each have been filed in Gorakhpur, Deoria, Gautam Buddha Nagar commissionerate, Ballia, Agra, Firozabad and Aligarh," he said.
In Ballia, which was the epicenter of the protest on Friday, 109 people have been arrested under section 151 of CrPC, whereas in Mathura 43 people have been apprehended for violence.
In Aligarh, where a roadways bus was torched near Tappal town and police vehicles were damaged, seven persons have been arrested.
Seven others have been arrested from Firozabad. "More trouble-makers are being identified on the basis of CCTV footage, videography and photograhs," sources said.
Protests against the union government's Agnipath scheme turned violent across the country, including in Uttar Pradesh on Friday as agitated youths torched trains, railway station, toll booth, party office and buses indulging in widespread arson, vandalism and stone-pelting while also blocking several national highways.
In a bid to disperse the mob, police used force, cane charged protestors and fired tear gas shells at some places. There were reports of violence, arson in Ballia, Barabanki, Agra, Mathura, Firozabad, Amethi, Aligarh, Varanasi, Deoria, Kushinagar, Etah, Unnao and Rae Bareli where protesters staged angry demonstrations demanding roll back of the Agnipath scheme and restoring regular recruitment process to defence services.
Additional Director General of Police for Law and Order in the state, Prashant Kumar, said that demonstrations and protests were reported from 17 places. "Some intelligence inputs have been received in this regard and also that some organisations are promoting such activities has come to fore. Police will take further action on this," he said.
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