Highlights:
- An FIR has been filed against 11 people including Priyanka Vadra and Ajay Kumar Lallu.
- Violence erupted after eight people were killed when a jeep allegedly ran over protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, UP.
- Gandhi was on her way to visit the relatives of farmers killed in the violence.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and UP Congress Chief Ajay Kumar Lallu have been charged for disrupting the peace in Lakhimpuri Kheri, Uttar Pradesh.
Brijesh Tripathi, SHO Hargaon Police Station in Sitapur district, said a FIR has been lodged against 11 people, including Priyanka, Ajay Kumar Lallu, and Deependra Hooda for disturbing the peace.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was stopped on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri on Monday, when eight people were killed in a conflict between protesting farmers and those alleged to be BJP supporters.
While four of those killed in Sunday’s tragedy were farmers who were reportedly hit by vehicles driven by BJP workers on their way to see UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, and the other four people were BJP workers and their driver allegedly lynched.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress Secretary General, tweeted earlier today that she had been detained for the past 28 hours with no order or an FIR. She was stopped on her way to Lakhmipur, where she intended to see the kin of the farmers who died after being hit by an SUV.
P Chidambaram, a senior Congress politician, called Priyanka’s arrest “totally illegal,” adding that it “conclusively” proved that there is no rule of law in Uttar Pradesh.
An umbrella body of over 40 farmers unions, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), issued a statement on Sunday alleging the murder of four farmers and claiming that the one of the 4 farmers had also been shot by the son of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni, while the others were allegedly run over by an SUV in the convoy.
Ajay Mishra Teni, on the other hand, stated that he was unaware of how the incident occurred. “Based on information and video, it’s visible that driver was killed after being pulled out of car.”
Ajay Mishra Teni further explained, “If it were my son, he’d have been dead. It’s impossible to get out of a place where car ran over people amid gathering of thousands.”
“We have evidence that neither I nor my son were present at the scene. We are ready to deal with any investigative agency. Culprits who plotted this tragedy will not be spared, according to the minister.
