Two die in police firing in Mangaluru as anti-CAA protests rock the country

Marchers take to the streets, defy prohibitory orders in many places and brave police crackdowns

Two persons were killed in police firing in Mangaluru on Thursday as protesters across the country took to the streets against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), which in combination could potentially introduce a religious test for citizenship in India.

Police in the coastal city of Mangaluru lathi-charged and later opened fire at protesters they claimed were trying to set fire to a police station and had targeted police personnel in Bunder area.

The police said the exact cause of death of Nausin, 23, and Jalil Kudroli, 49, would be known only after postmortem examination. The two, who were injured in the violence, died in hospital.

Mobile Internet data service has been suspended in the entire Dakshina Kannada district for two days “to prevent misuse of social media platform”, police said. Curfew has been clamped in the Mangaluru City Police Commissionerate area till December 22 midnight, and all educational institutions will remain shut.

Elsewhere across the country, marchers thronged cities, defying prohibitory orders in many places and braving police crackdowns in areas under BJP rule.