Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was on Friday detained and stopped from going to a village in Uttar Pradesh, where 10 people were gunned down in a clash between rival groups over a land dispute, and taken to a guesthouse after she staged a sit-in protest on the road, insisting that she be allowed to proceed, police officials said.
Congress leaders, including former party president Rahul Gandhi, alleged she was "illegally arrested” and Uttar Pradesh government was attempting to “crush” democracy while local police officials maintained she was only detained in Narainpur in the state's Mirzapur district. Priyanka Gandhi landed in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and met the injured at a medical facility before making her way to Sonbhadra, about 80 km away. She was stopped on Varanasi-Mirzapur border and taken to a nearby guesthouse.
Priyanka Gandhi and other members of the Congress were "stopped and detained" at Narainpur while they were on their way to Sonbhadra, Deputy Inspector General Piyush Kumar Srivastava said. Sonbhadra District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police are in talks with Priyanka Gandhi at the guesthouse to persuade her not to move to Sonbhadra, the DIG said. Prohibitory orders are in force in the Ghorawal area in Sonbhadra district, Srivastava added. An agitated Priyanka Gandhi said she only wanted to meet the affected families and demanded to be shown the orders under which she was stopped.
"A boy of my son's age was shot at and is lying in hospital. Tell me on what legal basis have I been stopped here," she said."I can move ahead only with four people. I want to meet the victims... I only want to meet the affected families whose members have been mercilessly shot dead." Local Congress leader Ajai Rai from the area said she was taken into police custody along with other Congress leaders and workers.
Rahul said "this arbitrary application of power reveals the BJP government's increasing insecurity in UP." As the issue snowballed into a political issue, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath promised justice and said the sub-divisional magistrate and four other officials were suspended. Besides, 29 people, including the village headman Yagya Dutt and his brother, were arrested. A committee under the Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) has been constituted and will give its report within 10 days, Adityanath said in a statement in the assembly.
Ten people were killed and 18 injured in the clash between supporters of the village head and Gond tribals over a piece of land in Sonbhadra's Ghorawal area on Wednesday. Dutt's supporters allegedly opened fire on the tribals.
Asked to comment on the development, UP Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma told reporters, "Whether it is the ruling party or the opposition, everyone's collective responsibility is to ensure that the situation does not aggravate further. The opposition should help the government in building bonhomie among the people.