Priyanka Gandhi stopped by authorities on her way to Sonbhadra
LUCKNOW : Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been stopped by authorities near UP’s Mirzapur on her way to Sonbhadra to meet the families of those killed in firing over a land dispute.
The Congress leader sat on the road during a dharna with her supporters and was soon taken into preventive custody. Refusing to back down, Gandhi told reporters, “We won’t be cowed down. We were only going peacefully to meet the victims’ families. I don’t know where they are taking me. We are ready to go anywhere.” UP police chief OP Singh, however, says Gandhi has been “stopped by the local administration” and has not been detained.
She refused to move from the spot where her convoy was stopped, Priyanka Gandhi was taken away in a government vehicle. “‘I don’t know where are they taking me, we are ready to go anywhere,’ she said.
Ten people were killed and 28 injured on Wednesday when they resisted an attempt by the village headman and his supporters to take possession of 90 bighas of disputed land in Sonbhadra district’s Ghorawal area. A total of 29 people have been arrested so far and the village head Yagdutt, his brother and others were charged under the SC/ST Act on the plea of a local named Lallu Singh.
Priyanka said, “I am coming from BHU, I saw an 11-year-old kid with bullet injuries. 10 people were killed and now I want to meet the families of the victims but I am being stopped without any reason.
I have asked administration to inform me under which law I was stopped, there is no imposition of section 144 in Sonbhadra either. I will be sitting here until the administration tells me why I was stopped in Mirzapur and no body can stop me from meeting the families of the victims.”
The Congress leader said she had been told she can’t drive from Varanasi to Sonbhadra. “I am sitting peacefully, can someone please show me the order,” she said.The tribals, who have tilled the land for generations, have been demanding titles for it. The main accused claimed he had bought the land 10 years ago from a prominent local family.
The day the incident took place, Priyanka Gandhi had tweeted: “In the BJP ruled state, the confidence of criminals is so high that broad day-light killings are continuously happening.
The killing of 9 Gond tribesmen, including 3 women, by the land mafia in Umbha village of Sonbhadra is heart-wrenching. Administration and Chief Minister are all sleeping. Is this how the state will become crime-free?”(With Agency Inputs ).
