Police in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh faced scorn on Twitter today after videos showing them allegedly “stealing” blankets, food and other supplies of women protesters in Lucknow, went viral.
On Saturday, women from Lucknow had gathered outside Lucknow’s iconic Clock Tower for a 24-hour sit-in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019.
Protesters posted videos showing policemen carrying away the late on Saturday even as those demonstrating at the site raised an objection.
Soon, “Kambal Chor (Blanket thieves) UP Police” started trending on Twitter.
According to reports protesters said on Sunday morning: “There is no cooperation from the police. They snatched our blankets in the night. They didn’t give us the permission to put up a shelter. They took away all the eatables and blankets arranged by us from home.”
The Hindu, reported that Additional DCP Vikas Chandra Tripathi on Saturday evening said: “Police removed the blankets and the people of the organisation as per law.”
He said legal action would be taken against the protesters for violation of Section 144, which restricts assembly of more than four people. He said that the protest is “illegal” and there was no question of providing permission to the protesters to hold their sit-in.
The women also reportedly raised slogans for the cops to release a male protester by the name of "Salim" who was detained by the personnel. "Salim" was allegedly bringing blankets to the venue. Jafar's video recorded panic among the women as police leave without returning either the protesters' supplies or the detained boy.
Tripathi added that some groups were distributing blankets during the “illegal” sit-in, following which a large number of people nearby, who were not a part of the demonstration, were also coming to collect the blankets.
In another tweet, UP police said they prevented some people from putting up a shelter with ropes and bamboo sticks. “Kambalo ko vidhik tarike se kabze mein liya gaya (The blankets were seized as per the legal process),” police said.
Women across the country have been taking to the streets in peaceful protests and indefinite strikes against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens.
Since the passing of CAA, the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh has been tense with both the police and the Yogi Adityanath government taking a tough stand against protesters and cops resorting to violence and arrests to quell protesters. 19 people lost their lives in the ensuing violence and clashes with police while over 700 protesters and alleged suspects were detained.
