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Lucknow: The Lakhimpur Kheri violence, in which nine people were killed, came after Uttar Pradesh police on Monday detained several opposition leaders, including Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, for attempting to reach the site. has taken a political turn.
Social media has been flooded with videos of politicians, especially Priyanka Gandhi confronting the Uttar Pradesh Police, who were seeking to detain her. a Gandhi cleaning video The floor of the room of Sitapur Guest House where he has been detained has also gone viral.
The development comes on a day when the Yogi Adityanath government announced a compensation of Rs 45 lakh and government jobs to the families of those killed in the violence. 10 lakh will be given to the injured.
However, the high-voltage political drama began late on Sunday night, when leaders of several opposition parties tried to reach the site of the violence in different ways.
A UP police source told ThePrint that Section 144 was imposed in Lakhimpur Kheri after eight people were killed in Sunday’s violence. The farmers alleged that four victims in a convoy were crushed by cars. Including one owned by Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra. He alleged that a car was being driven by the minister’s son Ashish Mishra. Four others lost their lives in the violence that followed.
Local journalist Raman Kashyap, the ninth victim, died on Monday.
A UP police source said that immediately after the violence, the police devised a plan to stop the opposition leaders from reaching Lakhimpur Kheri.
A senior police officer confirmed to ThePrint that they have orders not to allow political leaders to access the site.
“We have orders not to allow any leader to reach Lakhimpur. Heavy force has been deployed on all the borders of the district so that no political stir can take place.
ThePrint reached out to UP ADG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar for an official comment, but he did not respond to phone calls.
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Priyanka, Deepender Hooda in custody
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was the first to attempt to reach Lakhimpur Kheri, who took off from Delhi at around 8:30 pm on Sunday and landed in Lucknow at 9.30 pm with Congress Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda.
At 11.30 pm, she tried to reach the house in Lucknow where she usually stays, but there was heavy police presence outside the residence.
Congress leader asked the police personnel To show orders for arrest, but they were not able to do so. She managed to leave for Lakhimpur Kheri after the controversy.
A Congress functionary accompanying her told ThePrint that the police tried to stop Priyanka’s movement midway, but she changed the car to continue. Lakhimpur Kheri is about 130 km north of Lucknow.
“There was a heated argument between the police and Priyanka and Deepender Hooda on the way too,” the official said. “Trucks and buses were deployed along the way, especially at toll plazas. After a heated argument, Congress workers somehow gave way to him. When this debate took place, it was raining very heavily.”
In the early hours of Monday, both the leaders were detained at Hargaon, a town in Sitapur district along the Sitapur-Lakhimpur border. The two leaders argued with the police personnel, demanded production of warrants, but were taken away Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) Guest house in Sitapur town, where several other Congress workers have also been detained.
Congress leaders sat on a dharna outside the guest house where Priyanka has been detained.
The UP government also refused permission to the helicopters carrying Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Punjab Deputy CM Sukhjinder Randhawa to land at the Lucknow airport.
Congress leaders Pramod Tiwari, Aradhana Mishra and Salman Khurshid were also detained in Lucknow when they tried to meet Priyanka Gandhi.
Read also: Before the Kanpur businessman case, here are 5 times UP Police’s conduct came under fire since 2020
Akhilesh sitting on dharna, detained after few hours
Former chief minister and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav was detained by the Lucknow police from outside his residence in the city, where he staged a dharna along with his supporters on Monday morning.
The police took him to an eco-garden in Lucknow, which has now been turned into a “temporary jail” for the protesters.
Before his arrest, heavy force was deployed outside Akhilesh’s Vikramaditya Marg house, and police trucks were kept to block the road. Hundreds of party workers also gathered outside the house in the morning.
During the protest, a police jeep parked in front of Gautam Palli police station, right next to where Akhilesh Yadav was sitting on a dharna, was allegedly torched by SP workers. The activists, however, claimed that the police set their own vehicle on fire.
Akhilesh’s uncle and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (PSP) chief Shivpal Yadav managed to leave his house after being “under house arrest”, but was stopped again by the police at the Lucknow-Sitapur border.
Bahujan Samaj Party general secretary Satish Mishra was placed under house arrest after midnight, when he announced that he would go to Lakhimpur. The same fate happened to SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar..
leaders on the spot
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad was the only leader who managed to reach Lakhimpur Kheri. The police had detained him on the Sitapur-Lucknow border late Sunday night but released him in the morning.
An Azad Samaj Party functionary told ThePrint that Azad rode with a biker and reached the spot.
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RJD) chief Jayant Choudhary, who was on his way from Delhi to Lakhimpur, was stopped by the police at several places, but when they managed to give him the slip, they could not take him into custody.
Jayant tweeted One of his videos is making “way to Lakhimpur”.
(Edited by Arun Prashant)
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