Lucknow Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kaldhi Nath on Saturday said that 218 arrests have been made in connection with the violent protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that erupted here on December 19.
"We have sent 218 people in the jail and we are interrogating suspected anarchist elements. Most of these elements have escaped from the city but we will bring them to book," Nath told reporters.
"We brought the situation under control in the city by 6.30 pm in the evening on December 19. The police forces were very efficient in controlling the situation. We appealed to some eminent persons in the society for normalising the situation. We are issuing notices under section 149 of Indian Penal Code to people who were likely to create disturbance in the society," he added.
Five people have lost their lives in the violence during protests over the amended Citizenship Act in the state.
On Friday, clashes between police and mob were witnessed in different districts of Uttar Pradesh including Bahraich, Bareilly etc.
Protests erupted in different parts of the country including Uttar Pradesh over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, which seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghstan and Bangladesh and came to India on or before December 31, 2014.
Section-144 has been imposed in various parts of the state in view of the prevailing law and order situation.
( With inputs from ANI )