Arrested for anti-CAA stir, activist Sadaf Jafar, ex-IPS officer get bail

A court in Uttar Pradesh on Friday (January 3) granted bail to activist Sadaf Jafar and retired IPS officer SR Darapuri, among others, who were arrested in connection to the protests against amended Citizenship law on December 19.

Jafar was arrested when she was live on Facebook from a protest site in Lucknow. A local court had earlier rejected her bail petition, following which, it came up for hearing in the district court. She and Darapuri were granted bail on Friday, reported Hindustan Times.

The Congress had alleged the police brutally assaulted Jafar, a party spokesperson, and that she was arrested without any cause or reason. A petition was also filed in the Allahabad High Court that termed her arrest as illegal.

Also read | Congress demands judicial inquiry into ‘unlawful conduct’ of UP police

A day earlier, the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court had asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file its reply within two weeks on the petition that sought the quashing of an FIR filed against Jafar for her participation in an anti-Citizenship law protest.

A court had on Thursday granted bail to four other protesters, including two students of Nadwa College, who were arrested for allegedly indulging in violence during protests against the police’s crackdown on Jamia Milia Islamia students in Delhi.

Meanwhile, the high court had reserved its order on a PIL against the police action during an anti-CAA protest at Aligarh Muslim University on December 15.

(With inputs from agencies)

Also read | CAA protests: UP court grants bail to activist couple, 56 others