Priyanka Gandhi alleges 'detained for 28 hours without FIR' amid no arrests in Lakhimpur

On Tuesday, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra claimed that she has been detained for the last 28 hours without any order or FIR against her. She was detained by the Sitapur police at Hargaon, as she proceeded towards Lakhimpur to meet the families of the 4 farmers who lost their lives in Lakhimpur-Kheri on October 3. At present, hundreds of party leaders are protesting outside the PAC guest house in Sitapur where Vadra has been kept under detention. Taking to Twitter, Vadra lashed out at the Uttar Pradesh police for not arresting any person in connection with the death of the farmers.

While the Samyukta Kisan Morcha accused Union MoS Home Ajay Mishra's son Ashish of mowing down farmers in Lakhimpur, the latter flatly denied the claim. Mentioning that three BJP workers and a driver were killed by the protesters, Ashish Mishra claimed that he was present in the annual 'Dangal' event organised in the Banbirpur village when the incident took place. In a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, the SKM demanded a Supreme Court-monitored SIT probe, dismissal of the Union Minister and the immediate arrest of Ashish Mishra. 

Politicians barred from entering Lakhimpur

The entry of political leaders has been barred in the Lakhimpur-Kheri district owing to the imposition of Section 144. In a video shared by Congress before her detention, Vadra was heard telling the police officials, "If you forcibly take me in this van, you will be kidnapping me. Go and get a warrant before you arrest me. There may be no law and order in this state, but it is there in this country". 

Backing his sister, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi commented, "Priyanka, I know you will not step back. They are scared by your courage". Similarly, Deepender Hooda, Sanjay Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Shivpal Yadav, Sanjay Singh and a delegation of Punjab MLAs led by Deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa were also detained on the way to Lakhimpur. Meanwhile, visuals showed that a large contingent of police and Rapid Action Force personnel were deployed outside SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's Vikramaditya Marg residence to prevent him from leaving for Lakhimpur.

A few hours later, he was taken into preventive custody after he sat on a dharna alongside SP workers and demanded Ajay Mishra's resignation. Besides this, BSP general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra and Congress leader Salman Khurshid were placed under house arrest. In another development, permission was denied for the landing of the helicopters of Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi in Lakhimpur.