AGENCIES / MIRZAPUIR (UP)
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday detained and stopped from going to Sonbhadra district in Uttar Pradesh where 10 people were killed a few days ago.
Gandhi refused to furnish a personal bond and stayed put at a guesthouse in Mirzapur district where she was taken after she squatted on the road with her supporters, insisting she be allowed to proceed and meet the victims’ families.
Deputy Inspector General Piyush Kumar Srivastava said that the district magistrate and the superintendent of police were in contact with Gandhi at the guesthouse in Chunar to persuade her against travelling ahead.
The standoff showed no sign of ending till late on Friday night.
Uttar Pradesh Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Kumar Lallu, who was with her at the guesthouse, said, “We have clearly said, either let us meet the victims or send us to jail.”
In a series of tweets night, Gandhi reiterated her demands and said she would not change her decision to meet the affected villagers.
“I have been arrested by the Uttar Pradesh administration for the last nine hours and kept in Chunar fort. The administration says I have to furnish bail of Rs 50,000, else I will be sentenced to jail for 14 days, but they will not let me go to Sonbhadra as these are ‘orders from above’,” she said in a tweet in Hindi.