Agra/Lucknow, 20 October
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was stopped by the Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday from going to Agra to meet the family members of a man who died in police custody, was allowed to proceed in the evening.
Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi said that the police have let Priyanka Gandhi go and she has left for Agra.
Awasthi said that the Lucknow Police has given permission to four people, including UPCC President Ajay Kumar Lallu and senior leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam, to accompany Priyanka Gandhi.
Police said the Congress general secretary was stopped on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway as the Agra district magistrate had requested not to allow any political personality there after the man’s death.
“He was neither detained nor arrested. Due to the heavy rush, the traffic movement was being disrupted and she was earlier asked to either go to the party office or her residence, but when she did not agree, she was sent to the police lines,” said Lucknow Police Commissioner DK Thakur said.
A Congress spokesperson had claimed that Priyanka Gandhi was detained when she was on her way to Agra.
To a question from journalists in Kushinagar on stopping the Congress leader from going to Agra, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, “Law and order is supreme and no one will be allowed to play with it.”
While taking the police line, Priyanka Gandhi told reporters that she would definitely go to Agra.
A similar clash took place earlier this month when the Uttar Pradesh Police prevented the Congress leader from meeting the families of farmers killed in Lakhimpur Kheri.
He was taken into preventive custody for over 48 hours before being allowed to meet the families along with Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders.
“Do I need anyone’s permission when I go out of Lucknow? Is there any problem here? Why am I not being allowed to go to Agra? Is there any law and order issue?” Priyanka Gandhi asked the policemen who stopped her convoy.
“Someone has died, how can it be a law and order issue? Call the DM and ask. It is too much that I cannot go out anywhere and must be confined to a guesthouse in Lucknow,” she told the policemen when they showed her a message from the Agra district magistrate.
Congress workers, who reached the spot in large numbers, raised slogans against the Uttar Pradesh government after Priyanka Gandhi was not allowed to go to Agra.
In a tweet in Hindi, the Congress general secretary asked whether lynching someone in police custody was any kind of justice.
The incident of Arun Valmiki’s death in police custody in Agra is condemnable. On the day of Valmiki Jayanti, the Uttar Pradesh government has taken action against his messages. Action should be taken against the policemen by conducting a high level inquiry and compensation should be given to the victim’s family.
In another tweet after being stopped from going to Agra, the Congress leader said, “Arun Valmiki died in police custody. His family is seeking justice. I want to visit family. What is the Uttar Pradesh government afraid of? Why am I being stopped? Today is Valmiki Jayanti, PM spoke a lot about Buddha but is attacking his messages.
After the death of a Kanpur businessman after he was allegedly beaten up by the police at a hotel in Gorakhpur, a man accused of stealing Rs 25 lakh from a police station in Agra died in police custody after his health deteriorated during interrogation. Went.
Senior Superintendent of Police (Agra) Muniraj Ji said that the accused Arun suddenly fell ill on Tuesday night, when his house was being raided to recover the stolen money.
He was taken to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead, the official said.
Last month, a Kanpur-based businessman, Manish Gupta (36), died after he was allegedly thrashed by the police at a hotel in Gorakhpur. The Uttar Pradesh Police has already recommended a CBI inquiry into the incident.
Arun was accused of stealing money on Saturday night from the “malkhana” (a storage house where items confiscated by the police are kept) of the Jagdishpura police station, where he worked as a cleaner.
After the theft, the Additional Director General of Police (ADG) of Agra Zone suspended six policemen, including the station in-charge.
During the investigation, the police arrested several suspects. Arun was one of them as he had access to the “malkhana”.
He was arrested from Agra’s Taj Ganj area on Tuesday. According to the police, Arun had shaved his head to hide his identity.
“Police teams were questioning several suspects in connection with the theft. On Tuesday evening, a man named Arun, a resident of Lohamandi area, was taken into police custody.
He said, “During interrogation, Arun admitted that he had committed the theft and told us that the stolen money was kept at his house.”
Before his health deteriorated, the police recovered Rs 15 lakh during a raid from his house and he died.
The SSP said that the body has been sent for post-mortem and appropriate action will be taken after the report is received. He said Arun’s family has also lodged a complaint regarding his death.
People from Valmiki community gathered at Arun’s house and demanded a fair probe into his death.
Local leaders of the community said that they would not celebrate “Maharishi Valmiki Jayanti” on Wednesday until a fair investigation into the matter was started. PTI