The Rampur administration has issued notices to 28 people “identified for violence” during last week’s anti-citizenship law protests, asking them to explain their position or pay for damage caused to public and private property, officials said on Wednesday.
The notices were issued on Tuesday after damage of nearly Rs 25 lakh was assessed across the district by the police and the administration, they said.
Police had initially said that the damage incurred was worth around Rs 15 lakh but the final assessment put the figure at Rs 25 lakh, they added.
“Notices have been issued to 28 people who have been identified for violence during the protests. They have been given seven days’ time to respond why action should not be taken against them, failing which, proceedings will be initiated to recover money from them for destruction of public and private property,” District Magistrate Aunjaneya Singh said.
A 22-year-old man died of a bullet injury in Rampur on Saturday during violent protests against the amended Citizenship Act.
Several locals and policemen were injured, and six vehicles, including a police motorcycle, were torched, according to officials.
So far 33 people have been arrested and more than 150 identified in connection with the violence in Rampur, the police said.
Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act had broken out in several districts of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, leaving at least 17 people dead and moveable and immoveable assets damaged, mostly in arson.
Along with UP, several parts of the country have been witnessing protests against the amended Citizenship Act and the proposed implementation of a pan-India National Register of Citizens.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act provides for grant of citizenship to persecuted minority Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jain, Buddhists and Parsis of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who have taken refuge in India before December 31, 2014.
Critics say that leaving Muslims out of the ambit of the law is a violation of the Fundamental Right to Equality under Article 14 of the Constitution and is against the secular ethos of the country.
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