Internet services suspended in Aligarh post anti-CAA clashes

Aligarh : Violence broke out on Sunday evening after anti-CAA protesters clashed with the police officials in the region in the Uparkot Kotwali area of Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh, resulting in stone-throwing.

A portion of shops was set on fire, public properties on the roads were damaged and a police motorcycle was set ablaze by the protesters.

Following the clashes, mobile internet services were snapped for a six-hours from 6 pm. It is likely that the services may remain suspended till the local authorities attempt to restore the law and order. Aligarh Muslim University students gathered to block the Aligarh-Moradabad Highway in protest against the cops' actions.

According to the cops the clashes took place after some protesters, who had gathered outside a police station to ask for permission to erect tents for protection against bad weather, allegedly threw stones and vandalised the vehicle of a local police officer - the Station House Officer -, prompting the cops to respond with a lathi-charge and fired tear gas shells to disperse the mob.

"(The) violence started around 5 pm when a local police officer's vehicle was pelted with stones. Soon after, the mob started throwing stones at us ... to disperse them we had to use tear gas shells. The situation is under control," Aligarh District Magistrate Chandra Bhushan Singh said, adding that the cops were also investigating the role of Aligarh Muslim University students in instigating the crowd.

A Rapid Action Force (RAF) of UP Police has been deployed.

"We have held peace meetings and asked Muslim community leaders, including the Imam of the Jama Masjid, to act as interlocutors," he added.