Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who remains in police custody without being formally arrested even after 28 hours, has tweeted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about her detention.
Taking to Twitter, the Congress General Secretary demanded to arrest the accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, where 8 people, including 4 farmers, died on Sunday. “Modi ji, your government has detained me for 28 hours without any order or FIR. But those who crushed farmers have not yet been arrested. Why?” she tweeted in Hindi.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was taken into police custody early on Monday morning in the Hargaon area in Sitapur while she was on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri to meet families of the deceased farmers. After a brief spat with the policemen, Priyanka was taken to the PAC guest house and remains there till now.
Hundreds of Congress workers have been sitting outside the guest house, waiting for their leader’s release. Priyanka has said that as soon as she is released, she will proceed to Lakhimpur Kheri to meet the bereaved families.
In a related development, a senior official said that the government has taken note of the fact that Priyanka spoke to some news channels on the phone while she was in custody. “We are investigating the matter and will soon take action against the channels and those responsible for arranging the interactions,” the official said.
As many as eight people died in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident on Sunday, said Uttar Pradesh police. “Four farmers and four others have died (in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident). Probe underway. It’s an unfortunate incident, should not be politicized,” Lakhimpur Kheri District Magistrate Arvind Kumar Chaurasiya told reporters.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) issued a statement regarding the incident claiming the death of four farmers and alleged that one of the four farmers was shot dead by Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni’s son, while the others have been allegedly run over by the vehicles of his convoy.
Refuting SKM’s allegations, MoS Teni said that his son was not present at the spot, adding that some miscreants merged with protesting farmers and pelted the stones on the car which lead to the ‘unfortunate incident’.
(With inputs from ANI)