Over 100 Congress workers detained in Tripura for taking out rally

The Congress in Tripura has alleged that police "baton-charged and tortured" its workers and detained them for taking out a rally without permission to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi. The allegation of torture, however, was denied by police, which said it "only ensured that the crowd dispersed".

As many as 134 Congress activists, including senior leaders Gopal Chandra Roy and Subal Bhowmik, were on Tuesday detained for more than three hours, police sources said. "We organised a rally to spread the ideals and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. It was Gandhi Vichar Sandesh Padyatra, not a protest against anyone. But police thrashed the activists with lathis and tortured them," Youth Congress national secretary Dr Smruti Ranjan Lenka told reporters.

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Despite sending an application much in advance, the rally was denied permission, he claimed. According to the sources, police had set up a barricade near Agartala Circuit House to stop the rally. A scuffle ensued between the two sides when the protesters tried to move past the barricade, they added.

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Rebutting the allegation of lathi-charge on the Congress activists, Subrata Chakraborty, the officer-in-charge of West Agartala Police Station, said, "We had to ensure that the crowd dispersed as the rally was taken out without permission. The detainees were released after a few hours.

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