Amid Anti-CAA Protest, Internet Services Suspended In Several Cities In Uttar Pradesh; Check List Here

As many as seven cities are facing a complete internet shutdown which includes Lucknow, Bareilly, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Prayagraj, Sambhal, Meerut, Mau and Kanpur, even as Section 144 of the CrPC, which bans assembly of people, was already in force in the entire state for several days.

Lucknow: In the wake of Thursday's protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that turned violent in Lucknow and Sambhal, the internet services have been shut down in several cities of Uttar Pradesh including Lucknow. As many as 20 districts are facing a complete internet shutdown which includes Lucknow, Bareilly, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Prayagraj, Sambhal, Meerut, Mau and Kanpur, even as Section 144 of the CrPC, which bans assembly of people, was already in force in the entire state for several days. This happened after the protest in UP led to large scale destruction of public and private property in the state.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Avanish Awasthi said that the shutdown would continue till December 21 midnight. All private telecom operators have also shutdown their service after the government order. This has been done in view of protests planned after Friday prayers in several cities.

List of districts in UP where the internet has been shut down-

1. Lucknow
2. Prayagraj
3. Sultanpur
4. Aligarh
5. Agra
6. Ghaziabad
7. Meerut
8. Baghpat
9. Bulandshahr
10. Hapur
11. Muzaffarnagar
12. Shamli
13. Saharanpur
14. Careful
15. Moradabad
16. Rampur
17. Firozabad
18. Mow
19. Azamgarh
20. Unnao

According to a senior police official, it was found late on Thursday night that the violent protests on Thursday were being live-streamed on the social media which aggravated the situation. "Apart from the internet, SMS and messenger services have also been blocked. We are trying to inform our customers about this," said a private telecom manager in Lucknow.

Watch | Internet services shut down in parts of UP



The shutdown is mainly going to impact the news industry, which is largely dependent on the internet for news transmission.

As per the report, a 25-year-old man was killed as violence erupted in the state capital and some other parts of UP with protesters, angry over the amended citizenship law, pelting stones at police and torching vehicles.

The CAA, which has met with objection from a section of people, allows citizenship to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis who entered India before 2015 after facing religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The list excludes Muslims.