LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh police said they have arrested four people suspected to have links with the Popular Front of India, an alleged radical group, and its affiliate in Mathura when they were on their way to Hathras district.
The PFI has been accused of funding protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act across the country earlier this year and the UP police had sought a ban on the outfit.
Hathras has been in the news following the death of a 19-year-old Dalit woman who was allegedly gangraped on September 14 in a village in the district.
And her cremation at night, allegedly without the parents' consent, has triggered an outrage.
Police said the four men with PFI links were taken into custody at Math toll plaza in Mathura Monday after a tip that suspicious people were heading to Hathras from Delhi.
The four were in a car and identified themselves as Atiq-ur Rehman from Muzaffarnagar, Siddique from Malappuram, Masood Ahmed from Bahraich and Alam from Rampur, they said.
Their mobile phones, laptop computer and some literature, which could have an impact on peace and order, were seized, officials said.
During interrogation, it came to light that they had links with PFI and its associate organisation Campus Front of India, police said.
The Popular Front of India (PFI), an alleged radical group, has been accused of funding certain protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that took place across the country earlier this year.
The Uttar Pradesh police had earlier sought a ban on the organization.
Hathras has been in news after a 19-year-old woman was allegedly raped on September 14 in a village in the district and she succumbed to her injuries a fortnight later at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi.
Her hurried cremation in the dead of the night, allegedly without the parents' consent, created further outrage.
Earlier on Monday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath referred to "recent incidents" and said "anarchist elements" are trying to trigger communal and caste violence in the state.
The development comes a day after Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday claimed to have busted an “international conspiracy” to foment caste conflagration in the state to defame the Yogi Adityanath government.
Police had already registered 19 FIRs across the state in connection with spreading rumours and trying to vitiate the atmosphere.
At least six persons, including two in Lucknow, have been arrested in connection with the alleged conspiracy.
The police sources earlier claimed that intelligence agencies have indicated alleged involvement of the organisations such as Amnesty International, PFI, and SDPI along with workers and leaders of a number of mainstream political parties in the conspiracy to tarnish the state government’s image in the garb of seeking justice for Hathras victim. Moreover, the evidence of international funding has also come to the fore in this regard.
Interacting with media persons, UP Additional Director General of Police (Law & order) Prashant Kumar claimed on Monday that ‘conspiracy’ was hatched to push the state into caste conflagration and turmoil which was unearthed by the cops.
"Some specific groups used social media platforms to spread hatred and incite people for creating conflict on caste lines by organising unlawful gatherings in times of Covid-19 pandemic," said the officer.
He added that the police department was in possession of proof and the audio and video clips suggesting that some of these groups even offered Rs 50 lakh to the victim's family to speak against the state government.
The officer confirmed that police had lodged 19 FIRs regarding the matter and it will be too early to reveal names or more details without proper investigations.
A website -- justiceforhathrasvictim.carrd.co -- which had information on how to protest safely by avoiding the police, has been linked to the conspiracy. The site has now been taken down and is currently unavailable. It also listed dos and don’ts on how to stay safe during riots and in situations when police fire tear gas.
The ADG further said that police teams were checking the veracity of those messages and the website. “Action will be taken against if anything comes up in our investigation," he added.
Police claimed that six FIRs in connection with Hathras cases were lodged in Bijnor, Bulandshahr, Lucknow, Prayagaraj, Mathura, Shamli, and Saharanpur for unlawful protest, breaching Section 144 of CrPC and inciting hatred on social media.
In one of the FIRs lodged at Chandpa Police station of Hathras, unidentified groups were booked under IPC sections pertaining to sedition, inciting caste violence, promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, imputations, and assertions prejudicial to national integration, forgery, forgery for purpose of cheating, forgery for purpose of harming reputation, along with other sections of IPC and IT Act were also invoked against 400-500 unidentified people.
Even Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, Samajwadi Party, and RLD (Rashtriya Lok Dal) workers, who created a ruckus at Boolgarhi village on Sunday, were mentioned in different FIRs lodged in Hathras.
In Lucknow, six FIRs were lodged against people who posted fake messages or morphed images of CM Yogi Adityanath on social media platforms in connection with the Hathras incident to incite caste violence.
(With ENS And Agecnies Inputs)