Allegations have surfaced that police at Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh helped people in civvies throw stones at anti-citizenship amendment act protesters but the police said video clips that appeared to suggest so do not show the “complete truth”.

Some of the clips that were apparently recorded on December 20, the day several protesters were killed in Uttar Pradesh, show a large number of people in Firozabad city throwing stones at the protesters during a demonstration against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, with the police looking on.

The footage suggests that the police are standing behind the stone-throwers, who are in civil dress, and supporting them.

The police said the authenticity of the video clips was yet to be established and an inquiry was going on.

Prabal Pratap Singh, superintendent of police, Firozabad city, said “the videos circulating on social media are not showing the complete truth”.

“I can say at this stage that it was only the police which was taking action against the rioters. There was no involvement of any civilian in controlling violence. You need to wait for more details over this issue as an inquiry is going on to ascertain the content in the videos as well as their veracity,” Singh told The Telegraph. “Don’t jump to a conclusion so early.”

A resident of Firozabad told this newspaper that there were members of several “Hindutva” groups who had pelted the protesters with stones from the side of the police before the cops fired tear gas and baton-charged the demonstrators.

“Many of us had seen the Hindutva members throwing stones at the protesters in the Nal Bandh, Paimeshwar, Hazipura and Nai Aaadi areas and the police standing behind the stone-throwers from the Hindutva organisations. The police were in fact helping the stone-throwers,” said the resident, who didn’t want to identify himself for fear of retribution.

“It appears that they (the stone-throwers) were prepared because I had seen them hiding stones and standing at the Nal Bandh crossing even before the people had gathered there to take out processions,” the resident added.