Meerut (Uttar Pradesh): In a shocking development, the Superintendent of Police of Meerut City on Thursday alleged that a violent mob had tried to set cops on fire during anti-CAA protests in the area on December 20.
Akhilesh Narayan Singh, Meerut SP, today released two videos from December 20 evening and claimed that the mob had trapped around 30 to 35 cops and some local journalists in a building before setting the entrance on fire.
The incident took place at Nisari Gate in Meerut.
According to a Times Now correspondent, Singh claimed that a mob of more than thousand people came to Nisari Gate and turned violent. During that time, the cops were sitting in a shop when the mob came after Friday prayers. According to the SP, the mob downed shutters and locked the shop from outside.
The cops and the journalists could be rescued only after reinforcements came in.
While the incident took place on December 20, the videos have only been released now and FIR has been registered in this connection.
Prashant Kumar, ADG Meerut, confirmed that the videos were genuine and the mob had indeed tried to set cops on fire.
The police is trying to identify perpetrators, Kumar told Times Now.
The videos available with Times Now show cops coming out of a building whose entrance was on fire.
While violence has rocked several parts of the country after the citizenship law was amended, the scale has been unmatched in Uttar Pradesh. At least 19 people were killed, including in Meerut.
The Uttar Pradesh Police have now written to the Ministry of Home Affairs, seeking a ban on Popular Front of India after investigations established that the group had incited anti-CAA violence in the state.
It may be noted here that the Meerut SP had hit headlines earlier as well after videos showed him asking some Muslim youths to go to Pakistan.
“Some boys after seeing us raised Pakistan zindabad slogans and started running. I told them if you raise Pakistan zindabad slogans and hate India so much that you pelt stones, then go to Pakistan,” Singh had said, justifying his action.