UP: 40 people including Congress district president booked for violence on March 30; Priyanka Gandhi condemns

Sultanpur district Congress leaders held a torch rally and clashed with police on March 30. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi condemned the incident. Police have registered a case against 40 people, including 20 Congress leaders while the party leaders demanded action against accused policemen.

Sultanpur: Police have registered a case against 20 Congress leaders, including Sultanpur district Congress president Abhishek Singh Rana and 20 other unidentified people for allegedly holding a torch march without permission, blocking road and attacking police personnel on March 30. Congress leaders, however, alleged that many of their leaders were injured in the police lathi-charge. After Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi condemned the incident on Twitter, Congress leaders have demanded action against the accused policemen including Kotwali Nagar's Sitakund Chowki in-charge Shardendu Dubey.

According to police, Congress district president Rana along with 40-50 people took out a torch rally and blocked the road near the Congress office in Lal Diggi without taking prior permission from the police. Police said the protestors were armed with sticks and were found shouting slogans. When police tried to stop them, the agitators allegedly attacked them with torches. Dubey complained that he sustained burn injuries on his right hand and face in the attack. Later on, they set up a road blockade. According to sources, police reportedly resorted to lathi-charge in order to disperse the crowd.

Following the incident, police booked Rana and other accused leaders including Nitin Mishra, Ranjit Singh Saluja, Dinesh Kumar Mishra, Amol Bajpai, Mohit Tiwari, Dayashankar Dubey, Rahul Mishra, Varun Mishra, Meenu Yadav, Arun Kumar, Shakeel Ansari, Amit Singh, Rajesh Tiwari, Subrata Singh, Mohammad Athar, Manas Tiwari, Mahesh Mishra, Rahul Tripathi under 12 sections of the IPC including assault on policemen, verbally abusing and obstructing them.

A day after the incident, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi tweeted alleging that the attack on Congress leaders was an attack on democracy. She condemned the alleged brutality of police during the torch rally. "The Congress soldiers cannot be intimidated nor can truth be suppressed with sticks," she tweeted. Superintendent of Police Somen Verma said a case has been registered in the Nagar Kotwali police station. Investigation is being conducted on the basis of several evidences, including videos.