UP: Yogi Government Suspends Internet Services In 21 Districts In View Of Friday Prayers, Possible Anti-CAA Protests

The Yogi Adityanath government has again suspended the internet services in 21 districts of the state till Friday (27
December) midnight.

Initially, nine districts in the state had been marked for internet shutdown, but close to midnight on Thursday, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Avanish Awasthi issued an order that internet services in 21 districts would remain suspended till Friday midnight

The districts where internet has been blocked include: Lucknow, Hapur, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Meerut, Kanpur, Ferozabad, Bareilly, Saharanpur, Bijnor, Rampur, Amroha, Bahraich, Muzaffarnagar, Sambhal, Shamli, Varanasi, Azamgarh, Moradabad, Agra, and Aligarh.

The internet shutdown is a preventive measure in view of the Friday prayers and possible protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Internet black out is aimed to prevent the dissemination of information through social media in event of any trouble.

Earlier, internet service had remained suspended for six days in Lucknow and was restored on Wednesday night after violence erupted during the anti-CAA protests last week.

Additional Director General (Law and Order) P V Ramasastry said: "We have deployed security personnel in different districts of the state and held talks with the local people. Internet services have been suspended for a day, and we are closely monitoring content on social media."

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)