The Uttar Pradesh Police on Sunday arrested five more people in connection with the Kanpur violence, taking the number of total arrests to 29, and set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident. The arrested persons, including prime accused Hayat Zafar Hashmi, were produced before the special remand magistrate court which sent them to judicial custody for 14 days, a senior police official said.
The violence broke out in Pared, Nai Sadak, and Yateemkhana areas of the city on Friday when some people tried to force shopkeepers to down shutters over allegedly insulting remarks made by BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma against Prophet Mohammed during a TV debate, according to police. With five more arrests on Sunday, the number of arrested accused has gone up to 29. The identities of over 100 more accused have been established, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Pramod Kumar said.
He said it has been decided to move an application before the court on Monday seeking 14-day police custody of the accused. Kanpur Police Commissioner Vijay Singh Meena said an SIT has been set up to probe the incident properly.
The SIT has been asked to identify those who instigated the communal tension, he said. "We will investigate if they (accused) had any links with the PFI (Popular Front of India), which had called for a closure (of shops) in Manipur and West Bengal on the same day," Meena said.
"Documents related to the Social Democratic Party of India and the Campus Front of India were also found during searches at the premises of Hayat Zafar Hashmi," he said. "All arrests so far have been made on the basis of photographic and video evidence from the scenes of riot with the help of human intelligence," he said.
Meena said six mobile phones were recovered from the arrested accused including MMA Jauhar Fans Association chief Hayat Zafar Hashmi, Jawed Ahmad Khan, Mohammad Rahil and Mohammad Sufiyan who were arrested from Hazratganj, Lucknow on Saturday. The mobile phones and social media accounts of the arrested accused are being searched, he said, adding that action will be taken after collecting evidence on a purely scientific basis.
He also said that appropriate action will be taken if any laxity is found on the part of police officials. On Friday night, police lodged three separate FIRs in connection with the violence. While 56 people have been named in the FIRs, nearly 800 unidentified persons have been booked.
At least 40 people, including 20 police personnel, were injured in Friday's violence. Seeking to defuse the row over the remarks made by its spokesperson Nupur Sharma against Prophet Mohammed, the BJP on Sunday suspended her from the party.
A communication to her from the party's disciplinary committee said she has expressed views contrary to the party's position on various matters, which is in clear violation of its constitution.
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