The state's new chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had asked police chief Javeed Ahmed on Monday to make public spaces safe and to take action against Romeos (a popular term for men who stalk and harass women).
The special police teams have taken to patrolling areas around schools and colleges, parking areas, malls, etc.
There have been reports of police questioning and even arresting men in Lucknow, Meerut and other places, since Tuesday.
In Jhansi, on Wednesday,the local police reportedly hauled up a young man sitting with girls and made another man do sit-ups as punishment.
Anti-Romeo squads, a key promise in the BJP's "sankalp patra" or manifesto for Uttar Pradesh, have been a controversial subject with some linking them to the raucous campaign against "love jihad", the term used by Yogi Adityanath and other BJP leaders to describe Muslim men marrying Hindu women, reported NDTV.
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