By PTI
KANPUR: Police here arrested 12 more people in connection with the Kanpur violence, taking the total number of those held to 50, a senior official said.
Around 10 more suspects have been detained for questioning.
Besides, a 16-year-old boy walked into the Colonelganj police station and surrendered after his picture appeared on posters put up by police, DCP (East) Pramod Kumar said.
Violence had erupted in parts of Kanpur after Friday prayers as members of two communities indulged in brick-batting and hurled bombs over attempts to shut shops in protest against “insulting” comments on Prophet Mohammed by BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma during a TV debate.
The Kotwali police on Tuesday lodged another FIR against people behind two Facebook accounts and three Twitter handles for spreading “fake and inflammatory content” about the June 3 violence, pushing the number of such users booked so far to 13, Kumar said.
The FIR has been registered against the operators of the Twitter handles “Duggalsahab15”, “shivaisrael” and “Akhand Bharat”, and two Facebook account holders Abu Zaid and Kaushal Patel, the DCP said.
The district administration has sealed a petrol pump situated nearby the Deputy Padav crossing after CCTV footage showed people taking fuel in bottles from the filling station ahead of the Friday clashes, said another senior official.
Since the sale of petrol in bottles is prohibited, the licence of the petrol pump has been suspended till further inquiry, he added.
During the investigation, it has emerged that the rioters came from various districts and localities from far away.
The SIT has shifted its focus on those who could be key conspirators and behind the funding for the riots, the official added.
Besides, the police have also started probing the role of Zara Hayat, the wife of Zafar Hayat Hashmi, a key conspirator, whose arrest was made from Hazratganj of Lucknow on Saturday.
The evidence collected by the SIT raised doubts on Zara Hayat who was the administrator of several WhatsApp groups, the official pointed out.
On Monday, the Kanpur police had released posters with 40 images of people involved in the violence.
Police are said to have gathered images of the alleged accused through several videos of the incident, including those captured on CCTV and mobile phones.
The apex child rights body NCPCR on Tuesday asked the Uttar Pradesh Police to probe if children were involved by anti-social elements in the recent communal violence in Kanpur.
In a letter to the Kanpur police commissioner, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights said it has come across a media report which stated that a minor boy surrendered at Colonelganj police station in the city as the posters of suspects involved in the June 3 violence put up by the police included his picture.
The report further indicates that the said minor boy was involved in stone pelting and he was identified through video footage, it said.
Hence, the NCPCR said, it is of the view that the anti-social elements involved in the communal violence in Kanpur used minors for such illegal activities which are prima facie in contravention of sections 75 and 83(2) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and sections of the Indian Penal Code.
“The Commission thereby requests your good offices to initiate an inquiry and further supplement the relevant sections of Juvenile Justice Act and IPS (IPC) in the FIR, at once, against the accused person in the said matter as prima facie it is observed that the charges are cognisable in nature,” it said.
It requested the police to produce the minor boy before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).
The NCPCR also asked the Kanpur police to submit an action taken report along with a copy of the minor’s statement made before the CWC and other relevant records within three days of receipt of its letter.
The violence broke out in Pared, Nai Sadak and Yateemkhana areas of Kanpur on June 3 when some people tried to force shopkeepers to down shutters over allegedly insulting remarks made by BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma against Prophet Mohammad during a TV debate, according to police.
At least 40 people, including 20 police personnel, were injured during the clashes.
