Dec 20 riots: Gangster Act invoked against 11

Kanpur: Police on Monday invoked Gangster Act against 11 alleged rioters under Babupurwa police station in connection with the violence on December 20 last year following a protest against the Citizenship Act. According to the police, out of the 35 identified accused, 19 have been arrested and sent to jail while the hunt for the others is still on.
To recall, three persons had died and 13 others injured in firing in Babupurwa area of the city on December 20, 2019, during violent protests against the amended Citizenship Act.Several policemen were also injured and several vehicles, including those belonging to police, were torched by the rioters. Inspector Babupurwa Rajiv Kumar Singh said, “The police decided to invoke Gangster Act as investigations have confirmed that they acted as a gang and intentionally targeted policemen and their vehicles during the violence.” “The police have sufficient evidence against them to justify imposing of Gangster Act against them,” Singh said and added they have been identified as Haseen of Ajitganj, Akram of Babupurwa, Mohd Umar of Ram Bagh Colony, Wasif and Sarwar of Quli Bazar, Faizan Khan of Begumpurwa, Sabir Siddiqui, Aqeel and Hammad of Babupurwa, Dlishad of Bagahi and Mohd Qasim of Barabanki.