WEB DESK
Massive protests against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act are going on across the country today despite prohibitory orders being imposed .
Mobile services — including calls, SMSes and internet — have been suspended in parts of Delhi as protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act CAA spread rapidly across the country. An order issued by the Delhi Police asked all telecom operators — Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Reliance Jio, MTNL/BSNL — to stop communication services in certain areas of Delhi.
As per the order, services were suspended for locations including walled city areas of north and central districts, Mandi House, Seelampur, Jaffarbad, Mustafabad, Jamia Nagar, Shaheen Bagh and Bawana.
“In view of the prevailing law and order situation, it is hereby directed that communication of all types i.e. voice, SMS and internet, be halted from 0900 hours to 1300 hours in Cell IDs/BTS (base transceiver stations) covering the following areas for 19-12-2019,” said the order issued by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Cell, New Delhi.
Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, which was recently enacted into law, have been taking place at several cities across the country since Thursday morning and police forces have resorted to detentions and restricting gathering of people.
In Delhi, the police placed restrictions on the entry of people into the capital, imposed Section 144 in several places and detained scores of protesters. And, mobile internet and connectivity too have been suspended in parts of Delhi.
Senior police officials have appealed to students and activists to maintain peace. Police have also stationed water cannons at the Jantar Mantar to deal with any situation.
Entry and exit gates of at least 19 Delhi Metro stations were shut while barricades were erected in large parts of south, east and north Delhi to check movement of protesters, triggering massive traffic snarls in large parts of the city.
In the area around the Red Fort, scores of protestors were dragged into buses by police in a bid to clear the area where Section 144 of the CrPC was imposed which restricts gathering of more than four people.
Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act resulted in huge traffic snarls across the national capital during the morning peak hours, while the Delhi-Gurgaon route remained in a gridlock as vehicles lined up for as long as 10 kms on the expressway connecting the two cities.
In view of violence during demonstrations in different parts of the country against the amended citizenship law, the Uttar Pradesh police on Wednesday said no permission has been given for protests as prohibitory orders are in place in the entire state.