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Navjot Singh Sidhu, other Punjab Cong leaders held
The Congress leaders were taken to Sarsawa Air Force station in Saharanpur while hundreds of protestors continued their protest where the police heavily barricaded the road to prevent their entry to UP
Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, some cabinet ministers and MLAs of Punjab were taken into custody by police on UP-Haryana border when they were going to Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh to meet the kin of those killed in Sunday’s (October 3) violence there on Thursday evening. 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 where the police heavily barricaded the road to prevent their entry to UP.
Meanwhile, Haryana’s former CM Bhupendra Singh Hooda and Party’s state chief Kumari Selja also tried to enter through border Town Kairana in district Shamli to go to Lakhimpur. Police stopped them and they returned after staying them at border for over an hour.
Speaking to media persons before his detention, 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.
Sidhu and other leaders said they wanted to go to meet the bereaved families whose members had been killed in the Kheri violence. “How can you stop us from meeting the bereaved families,” asked the protestors while shouting slogans.
Tensions ran high when the protestors reportedly overturned some barricades and attempted to march forward. They also had heated arguments with the cops guarding the barricades. After hours-long tussle, police eventually took Sidhu and other Congress leaders into custody.
Meanwhile, Haryana-UP border was also sealed in Kairana of Shamli district in order to prevent entry of protestors from Punjab and Haryana. Shamli’s DM Jasjit Kaur and SP Sukirti Madhav were camping at the border to monitor the development.
Moreover, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Congress’s Haryana unit chief Kumari Selja arrived there along with their hundreds of their supporters on Thursday afternoon. They also wanted to go to Lakhimpur Kheri but police stopped them at the border. Confirming it, Shamli SP Sukirti Madhav said they were told that Section 144 had been imposed in Kheri and therefore they could not go there with a crowd. Later, they returned after staying at border for over an hour, he added.
