Meerut: Internet in 21 districts of Uttar Pradesh have been suspended till Friday midnight as a preventive measure in view of possible protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Nine districts were earmarked for the Internet clampdown earlier but the state government later increased the number to avoid more trouble.
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.
In Lucknow, mobile Internet services and SMS messages of all service providers except BSNL will remain suspended. The Internet black out is aimed to prevent the dissemination of information through social media in event of any trouble.
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."
Meanwhile, mobile Internet services were restored in Kargil district of Ladakh on Friday after remaining suspended for 145 days. However, there is no word on when Internet services will be restored in Kashmir.
With agency inputs