In a major development in the Kanpur violence, three Popular Front of India members has been arrested by the UP police taking the toll to 54. According to a senior official, members from the Popular Front of India (PFI) allegedly mobilized rioters and were in communication with Hayat Zafar Hashmi, the violence’s main perpetrator.

Meanwhile, Hayat Zafar Hashmi who has been in the custody of police has been found receiving foreign funds worth crores.

UP police have revealed the role of three businessmen residing overseas in funding Hashmi. The funds were collected for the activities of the Jauhar Association which is an organization of Zafar Hayat. The organization received funding worth 3.54 crores in the year 2019 and recently Zafar had withdrawn 98 lacs in September 2021. This account now has Rs 1.27 crore in it. The information has been forwarded to the Income Tax Department, and the investigation will be overseen by the ED.

“We’re looking into the money’s origins first, then the purpose for which it was used. We’ll check later to see if the transactions were legal “an officer from the SIT stated

As per the reports, the police speculated that the findings can be just a ‘tip of the Iceberg’ and may they have had bigger intentions but couldn’t succeed due to the prompt action of the police. And Zafar was arrested at the earliest.

Meanwhile, the National Commission for the Protection of Children’s Rights has requested that the police investigate whether youngsters were used as shields in the riots and take appropriate measures against those involved. A letter has been addressed on behalf of the Commission to the state police headquarters and the Commissioner of Police of Kanpur, directing action against such people under the Child Protection Act.

On Tuesday, a teenager surrendered at the Colonelganj police station after seeing the posters that the police had made viral on Monday. The family of the little child accompanied him to the Colonelganj police station after seeing his picture in the ad.

The Commission has requested that the matter be probed by filing a case under the Juvenile Justice Act and the Indian Penal Code. The Commission has also asked the Child Welfare Committee to see the juvenile who surrendered in Colonelganj.

 

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