Kasganj violence | 50 detained, social media banned; CM Yogi sends additional forces from Lucknow

At least 50 people were detained amid fresh violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj district on Saturday.

The new cases of arson and clashes came despite the curfew imposed by the authorities. As of Saturday evening, Section 144 was still in force in the affected areas. 

Temper ran high on Saturday morning when huge crowd gathered at the cremation ground for the last rites of Chandan Gupta, a local ABVP leader, who succumbed to bullet injuries during the communal riots on Friday over Tiranga Yatra and raising slogans by members of both communities.

Demanding ‘martyr status’ to the deceased and a compensation of Rs 50 lakh, Gupta’s family refused to perform the last rites for three hours. It was only after the assurance by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that the family decided to cremate the body. CM Yogi spoke to them and assured all financial help and government job to a family member of the victim. The telephonic conversation was arranged by the Kasganj BJP MP Rajveer Singh, who is also son of Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh.

Returning after the cremation amid tight security, the mob went berserk again indulging in heavy violence. They torched four shops and two buses and were about to damage more properties when the police lathicharged to disperse them. It took three hours for the Fire Brigade personnel to control the blaze.

The Chief Minister convened a high-level meeting in Lucknow and pulled up senior police and district officials on their failure to maintain the law and order. The Chief Minister has also directed to dispatch more force from the state capital to control ongoing violence in Kasganj and arrest those guilty. Additional companies from Etah, Aligarh and Hathras are being sent to Kasganj. 1 company of the Rapid Action Force and five companies of the PAC are being deployed in the violence-hit area. 

The violence flared up on Friday, when activists of the ABVP and other Hindu organisations took ‘Tiranga Yatra’ on two-wheelers. When Yatra reached communally-sensitive Bellari Gate, slogan-shouting turned into communal clashes with members of both communities indulging in heavy brick-batting, acid throwing and resorted to indiscriminate firing.

ABVP leader Chandan Gupta and another person identified as Prince had sustained bullet injuries. While Gupta died, Prince has been shifted to Aligarh in the critical condition. Half a dozen others had sustained injuries in the riots. Curfew has been clamped in Kasganj after sealing the borders with other districts.

RP Singh, Kasganj DM, has banned the use of social media in the area. He said that action will be taken against anyone found sharing communally-sensitive matter to aggravate the situation.