A senior police officer in this Uttar Pradesh district said on Tuesday a youth was killed when the force fired in self-defence last week, contradicting an earlier claim by the state’s police chief that no one died in police firing during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Superintendent of police (rural) Vishwajeet Srivastava said a 22-year-old man was killed when a policeman opened fire while facing a violent mob in Nahtaur.
“On December 20, after Friday prayers, a violent mob attacked a police station and snatched the pistol of sub-inspector Ashish Tomar,” the SP said, adding a constable was fired at when he tried to retrieve the weapon.
“When the constable opened fire in self-defence, it hit ‘upadravi’ (troublemaker) Suleiman and he died.”
Suleiman’s family said he had been preparing for civil services exams and had nothing to do with the protests.
Another man, Anis, died in firing from the mob, the SP said.
This is the first time that police in Uttar Pradesh have accepted that they opened fire during the violent protests in the state over the citizenship act. At least 17 people have been reported killed.
The state’s police chief, DGP O.P. Singh, has said no one was killed in police firing and blamed the deaths mostly on “cross-firing”.
The police had said only protesters used firearms in the violence last Thursday, and then after the Friday prayers.
They also said 288 policemen had been injured across the state, including 62 who suffered firearm injuries, and claimed that over 700 live and empty cartridges had been seized.
Bijnor superintendent of police Sanjiv Tyagi said the force used minimum force against the protesters. “They put children in the front and resorted to slogan-shouting, stone-pelting and arson,” he said.
Thirty-two FIRs have been registered and 215 people arrested in the district, where the situation is now normal, the SP said. He said a reward of Rs 25,000 has been announced on three suspected masterminds who have a history of involvement in such acts.
Earlier, a video had surfaced showing a police sub-inspector purportedly loading his pistol amid sound of gunfire. The video appeared to be from Yateemkhana in Kanpur.
Another video, purportedly related to the violence earlier at Aligarh Muslim University, shows students pushing at the campus gate, apparently trying to get out as the police try to confine them to the varsity grounds.