A total of 38 people have been arrested so far by Uttar Pradesh police for their alleged involvement in the Kanpur violence
Police personnel patrol at the Parade Chauraha area after violence broke out between two groups on 3 June in Kanpur. ANI
Uttar Pradesh police have arrested nine more people for their alleged involvement in the Kanpur violence, taking the total number of those arrested to 38. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted for detailed probe in the incident.
A senior police officer said that those arrested include key accused Hayat Zafar Hashmi. All those nabbed were produced before the special remand magistrate court which has sent them to judicial custody for 14 days.
A report by ToI said that an SIT has been constituted to destroy the network of the accused as well as to check their mobile phones.
The police have also identified the stone-pelters in the incident. Violence was reported in Parade, Nai Sadak and Yateem Khana areas of Kanpur on 3 June after Friday prayers when some people tried to force shopkeepers to down shutters over allegedly insulting remarks made by BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma against Prophet Mohammed during a recent TV debate.
Police said that during the investigation, it was found out that efforts were being made to tamper with and erase the footage from DVRs.
Kanpur violence: Who are in the SIT formed by Kanpur Police Commissioner
The Kanpur Commissioner of Police Vijay Singh Meena said that the SIT will be headed by DCP South Sanjeev Tyagi who will be assisted by Additional DCP (West) Brajesh Srivastava, ACP (Anwarganj) Akmal Khan, ACP (Colonelganj) Tirpurari Pandey, along with an inspector and two sub-inspectors.
Kanpur Police Commissioner Vijay Singh Meena informed that the SIT has been asked to identify those who instigated the communal tension. “We will investigate if they (accused) had any links with the PFI (Popular Front of India), which had called for a closure (of shops) in Manipur and West Bengal on the same day,” Meena said.
The senior police officer also said that documents related to the Social Democratic Party of India and the Campus Front of India were also found during searches at the premises of Hayat Zafar Hashmi.
The arrests that have been made so far have been on the basis of photographic and video evidence from the scenes of riot with the help of human intelligence, the cop said.
Meena said six mobile phones were recovered from the arrested accused including MMA Jauhar Fans Association chief Hayat Zafar Hashmi, Jawed Ahmad Khan, Mohammad Rahil and Mohammad Sufiyan who were arrested from Hazratganj, Lucknow on Saturday.
The mobile phones and social media accounts of the arrested accused are being searched, and action will be taken after collecting evidence on a purely scientific basis.
The police officer also said that appropriate action will be taken if any laxity is found on the part of police officials.
Kanpur violence: Police to put up hoarding with pictures of key suspects
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Uttar Pradesh (East), Pramod Kumar, said: “25 hoardings having photographs of about 20 key accused, who allegedly took part in the 3 June violence, will be put up at prominent places in and around the affected areas and neighbouring pockets.”
It has been decided that contact numbers of the Station House Officers and senior police officials will also be provided and an appeal will be issued so that people can identify the suspects and pass on information to the police, the DCP added.
Kumar further said that the police have gathered images of the accused people through video clips, cameras and CCTV footage.
Besides, three more special teams with separate tasks have been formed to assist the Special Investigation Team headed by DCP (south) Sanjeev Tyagi, police officials said.
The first special team, comprising four members and headed by Additional DCP (East) Rahul Mithas, has been formed to examine the CCTV footage, including government and private ones, and hand the footage to the SIT.
Another five-member special team headed by Assistant CP Swaroop Nagar and Brijnarain Singh has been asked to investigate a matter pertaining to a petrol pump giving away petrol in open bottles and containers.
The third special team headed by Assistant CP (Cantonment) will keep an eye on posts which are provocative and false on social media, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and others.
They have also been asked to investigate social media posts of prime accused Hayat Zafar Hashmi, chief of Maulana Mohammed Ali (MMA) Jauhar Fans Association, and his associates, which went viral on social media.
Kanpur violence: CCTV footages being scrutinised
Meanwhile, police have been scrutinising CCTV camera footages from the day of the violence. Based on the clippings, 500 photos have been prepared which will be circulated on social media to help locate and arrested the accused in the Kanpur violence incident.
Kanpur violence: Fuel pump that doled out petrol in bottles sealed
A CCTV footage of a petrol pump situated in the area where the violence broke out on Friday, shows that a bottle filled at the fuel station being handed over to few people present there.
During the Kanpur violence, petrol bombs were also hurled leaving 40 injured.
The authorities have sealed the petrol pump and have suspended its license for doling out petrol in bottles (used as Molotov bombs).
Meanwhile, the Bareilly administration has imposed a curfew under Section 144 as a precautionary measure ahead of a huge protest which is expected to be held on 10 June as announced by Muslim cleric Tauqir Raza.
The curfew has been imposed till 3 July to avoid any untoward situation like the one that erupted in Kanpur on Friday.
With inputs from PTI
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