Agra custodial death: Priyanka Gandhi stopped by UP cops from visiting kin

A Congress spokesperson had alleged that Priyanka Gandhi had been taken into custody while on the way to meet the victim's kin, but UP police refute this.
Priyanka Gandhi wearing a blue saree addressing a rally
Priyanka Gandhi wearing a blue saree addressing a rally
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Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was on Wednesday, October 20, stopped by Uttar Pradesh Police from going to Agra to meet the family members of a man who died in police custody, and was later taken to the police lines. The police said the Congress general secretary was stopped at the Lucknow-Agra expressway as the Agra district magistrate had requested not to allow any political personality to go there following the man's death. The man, identified as Arun, reportedly worked as a sweeper at an Agra police station. He was accused of stealing Rs 25 lakh from a ‘malkhaana’ or goods’ house of the Jagdishpura police station, for which he was detained.

A Congress spokesperson had alleged that Priyanka Gandhi had been taken into custody while she was going to Agra to meet the family members of Arun, who had died in police custody. “She has neither been taken into custody nor arrested. Because of the massive crowds, the movement of traffic was being hampered and she was first asked to either go to the party office or her residence but when she did not agree, she was sent to the police lines,” Lucknow police commissioner DK Thakur said. However, later, The police later allowed Priyanka Gandhi to go to Agra, Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi said. The Lucknow police has allowed four people, including UPCC president Ajay Kumar Lallu and senior leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam, to accompany Priyanka Gandhi, Awasthi said.

To a query from newspersons in Kushinagar on Priyanka Gandhi being stopped from going to Agra, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had earlier in the day said, “Law and order is supreme and no one will be allowed to play with it.” While being taken to the police lines, Priyanka Gandhi told newspersons that she will "definitely go to Agra."

A similar confrontation had occurred early this month when the Uttar Pradesh Police had prevented the Congress leader from visiting the families of farmers killed in Lakhimpur Kheri. Priyanka, along with other Congress leaders, was on the way to meet families of the farmers killed in violence during a protest over UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit in Lakhimpur Kheri. She was taken into preventive custody for over 48 hours before being allowed to visit the families along with Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders.

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