A 25-year-old man died of a bullet injury and four were injured as the protest against the Citizenship Amendment) Act turned violent in Rampur on Saturday.
District Magistrate Aunjaneya K. Singh told The Hindu that Faiz, 25, was hit by a bullet in the neck and died during treatment at a government hospital. “The police didn’t fire any bullet. We are investigating how he was hit. Those who have doubts should wait for the post-mortem report,” he said.
Mr. Singh denied reports that two persons had died.
Sources said hundreds of protesters gathered at Chauraha Hathi Khana in the Idgah area and threw stones at the police. They set ablaze a police vehicle, the motorcycle of a traffic policeman and three other vehicles.
The police lathi-charged the crowd and fired tear-gas shells. “At other places in the city, we could control the crowd with the help of Ulemas, but at Chauraha Hathi Khana, the protesters put teenagers in the front who were throwing sutli bombs at the police. They also targeted journalists recording the incident,” Mr. Singh said. “It seemed to be a planned protest as the stones that were hurled were sharp, capable of passing through the mesh of police helmets. Twelve policemen were injured while controlling the protesters,” he said.
In Meerut, Mohammad Salahuddin, whose younger brother Aleem, 22, was one of the four killed during the clashes with the police, was inconsolable. “He was killed by the police,” he alleged. Aleem used to make chapatis and sheermal at a shop. “He was going home after the shop was closed, and he was hit near the Hapur bus stand,” Mr. Salahuddin said. “There is no solace now. I will make a statement,” he said, before taking the body for burial.
The police in Meerut maintained that they did not open fire on Friday and four persons died in a cross-fire. Seventy-five weapons, including local guns, swords and knives, have been recovered and 250 people rounded up, Prashant Kumar, Additional Director-General of Police, Meerut Zone, told presspersons.
In Bijnor, a day after the death of two persons in a clash with the police, Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Tyagi said one of them, Suleman, died of a wound caused by a police bullet.
