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Sidhu, other Punjab Cong leaders, ministers allowed to go to Kheri
Several Punjab Congress leaders, including state ministers and MLAs, were allowed to head towards Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, hours after they were detained at a police station in Saharanpur on Thursday
Several Punjab Congress leaders, including state ministers and MLAs, were allowed to head towards Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, hours after they were detained at a police station in Saharanpur on Thursday.
Punjab Transport Minister Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said the UP police would escort them to the city where they would meet the families of farmers who were killed in violence that erupted during a protest Sunday.
Congress district unit president in Saharanpur Muzaffar Ali Gurjar said 15 to 16 people, including Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, left for Lakhimpur Kheri in four vehicles at around 9 pm.
Earlier on Thursday evening, Sidhu, some cabinet ministers and MLAs of Punjab were taken into custody by police on UP-Haryana border in Shahjahanpur when they were going to Lakhimpur Kheri to meet the kin of those killed in Sunday’s (October 3) violence there. Other Congress party members accompanying Sidhu were also taken into custody.
They were taken to Sarsawa Air Force station in Saharanpur while hundreds of protestors continued their protest at Shahjahanpur border where the police heavily barricaded the road to prevent their entry to UP.
Speaking to media persons before he was taken into custody, Sidhu asked, “Why has the UP government not arrested Union MoS’s son Ashish Mishra who is an accused in the case of mowing down farmers? Is the minister’s son above law?” Demanded his arresting, Sidhu also accused the UP government of not taking action against those who ran over a group of farmers in Kheri.
“You are teaching us law. Accused Mishra is roaming scot-free and you are stopping MLAs and MPs (from going to Kheri). We will not tolerate the dictatorship. We are soldiers of Rahul Gandhi,” Sidhu said.
Earlier, hundreds of protesters from Punjab led by cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, some cabinet ministers and MLAs reached the border on Thursday evening.
Police had barricaded roads by placing tractor trollies, barricades to prevent them entering UP. The officials said only 5 people could be allowed as Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which prohibits the assembly of more than five people, had been enforced in Lakhimpur Kheri after the October 3 violence.
Former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Congress’s Haryana unit chief Kumari Selja also arrived there along with hundreds of their supporters on Thursday afternoon. They wanted to go to Lakhimpur Kheri but police stopped them at the border. Confirming it, Shamli SP Sukirti Madhav said they returned after staying at border for over an hour. (With PTI inputs)
