AGENCIES / LUCKNOW
The UP Police have put up several hoardings across Lucknow with photos of accused of violence during the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in December last.
The names, photographs and residential addresses of the accused are listed in the hoardings, triggering those named fear for their safety.
They have been asked to pay for the damage to public and private property within a stipulated time or have their properties seized by the district administration. The total damage listed in the hoardings amount to ₹1.55 crore.
As many as 57 persons have been identified in separate hoardings that have come up in the Hazratganj, Thakurganj, Hasanganj and Qaiserbagh police station areas.
One of them, with 28 names, put up at the prominent Hazratganj intersection, next to the statue of B.R. Ambedkar, asks them to pay up over ₹64 lakh.
Those served notices in this hoarding include retired IPS officer S.R Darapuri, lawyer and activist Mohammad Shoaib, Congress member Sadaf Jafar, teacher Robin Verma, cultural activist Deepak Kabir and Dalit activist Pawan Rao Ambedkar.
It is not clear why the Lucknow police and administration publicised the names of the people served notices as they had been issued notices by magistrates and asked to pay the amount within 30 days or face confiscation of their properties.
Many of the accused were granted bail by court in the charges against them.They had said they would challenge in court the notices issued to them.
Ms.Jafar said her name came up on a day when she had got a stay on her property attachment notice. She is seeking legal help once again.
“We are exposed to mob lynching now,” she said, expressing a fear that the public display of her face and address could jeopardise the safety of her children and herself.
In February, the state government had issued notices to the 28 persons whose faces feature in the hoardings, including political activist and Congress member Sadaf Jafar, retired police office S.R. Darapuri, activist Mohammad Shoaib and poet Deepak Kabir. The notice sought the payment of more than Rs 63 lakh from them for allegedly damaging public property within 30 days. If they failed to do so, their property would be attached by the administration.
Jafar and some others had then told media persons that they would challenge the notices served to them in court. Both Shoaib and Darapuri responded to the recovery notices saying that they had been put under house arrest at that time and could not have been present at the site.