Khandwa: Prohibitory orders were issued in at least 44 districts of Madhya Pradesh on Thursday as tensions ensued protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Section 144 of the CrPC, which restricts assembly of more than four people, was imposed in these parts.
Earlier, in Khandwa, protesters returning from the site of an anti-citizenship law agitation pelted stones at police here on Thursday, resulting in tension in this communally sensitive town in Madhya Pradesh, officials said.
Police wielded batons to disperse the stone-pelting crowd which damaged a car, they said. Defying prohibitory orders imposed in the town, a large number of people gathered in the Idgah area to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).
After the end of the 'Save the Constitution' protest, agitators were returning from the site in form of a rally when the police intervened, an official said.
The police asked the protesters, who were raising slogans, not to take out the rally, he said. This angered the marchers who pelted stones at police personnel in Imlipura and Bada Bam areas, causing tension in the communally sensitive town, the official said.
The protesters were carrying placards with slogans against the CAA and the NRC. Police cane-charged the stone pelters, who damaged a car and a few other properties, he said.
City Superintendent of Police (CSP) Lalit Gathre and Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Keshav Pande, among other officials, soon reached the spot and brought the situation under control, the official said.
When police personnel prevented the protesters from moving forward, a heated argument broke out between the two sides, eyewitnesses said.
Pande said since section 144 of the CrPC was in force, banning assembly of people, taking out rally was not permitted.
Khandwa S P Shivdayal Singh said the situation was under control and five companies of additional force (around 500 personnel) were deployed in the town to maintain peace.
The protest was organised on the call given by the Shehar Qazi (the town's chief Muslim priest) against the CAA, which promises citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
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