As the country continues to reel under the violent protests against the newly announced Agnipath recruitment scheme, a report published in Times Now sheds light on a comprehensive plot, allegedly hatched on Whatsapp, to incite violence and vandalism in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur under the pretext of carrying out protests.
The Whatsapp messages, as accessed by the Times Now, reveal a plan devised by the rioters to torch a police station. “Chalo chowki phoonk dete hain (let’s burn down the police station),” read one of the messages of the WhatsApp group, demonstrating how social media and chat apps are used by rioters to mobilise support and plan for violence in the name of protest against the Agnipath scheme. The WhatsApp group wherein these kinds of inflammatory messages were circulated was named ‘Boycott TOD.’
However, the Whatsapp chats are yet to be vetted.
In addition, the chats in the said Whatsapp group also revealed plans made by the participants to jam the highway and burn down a police station in Kanpur. The UP police have reportedly taken cognisance of the conversations in the Whatsapp group, collecting ample evidence against people plotting to set a police station on fire and block the highway connecting Kanpur to Hamirpur.
As per the report, similar kinds of other Whatsapp groups were also involved in inciting and planning violence, destruction and vandalism in the name of protests against the Agnipath scheme in Kanpur.
The UP police are now probing if the violence that broke out in Kanpur over the Agnipath recruitment scheme was a part of the “larger conspiracy” by the rioters to throw the city into chaos, as the Whatsapp chats suggest that the vandalism and violence may have been planned in advance.
