35 groups plan anti-CAA protest on Monday; police say no ban

Amid the plan by 35 Left and Muslim groups to hold protest on Monday, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao said here on Sunday there was no ban on demonstrations linked to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

"Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPc) will not be in place across the city," said Rao. Section 144 was announced from 6 a.m. Thursday to Saturday midnight.

However, in the light of the protests against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), there could be traffic restrictions and diversions several parts of the city, he said.

He said 53 Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) and 60 CAR platoons would be deployed in the city.

The CAA is meant to grant citizenship to persecuted Hindu, Sikh, Parsi, Jain, Buddhist and Christian minorities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, excluding all types of persecuted Muslims, including Shias and their sub-sects, Ahmediyas and others.

On Sunday, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporter was stabbed by some bike-borne assailants while he was returning from a pro-CAA demonstration. Bengaluru South Lok Sabha member Tejasvi Surya visited him in the hospital.IANS