Lakhimpur Unrest | Illegally Confined, Not Shown FIR: Priyanka Gandhi on Arrest

Gandhi had been detained by the Uttar Pradesh police on Monday while travelling to Lakhimpur Kheri.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra could be seen sweeping the floor of the room in which she has been detained. 

Photo: Altered by The Quint

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who had been placed under detention in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur on Monday, 4 October, has alleged that she has been illegally confined in the Provincial Armed Constabulary area of Sitapur.

In a statement released by the Congress on Tuesday, Gandhi said:

"Having been brought to the PAC compound, no further communication regarding the circumstances or the reasons , or the sections under which I have been charged have been communicated to me by the UP Police or administration until now – 38 hours later at 6.30 pm on the 5th of October."

'Not Allowed to Meet My Lawyers, Not Shown FIR': Priyanka Gandhi

In the statement issued on Tuesday, Gandhi stated:

"I have been placed under arrest as verbally informed to me by the arresting officer DCP Piyush Kumar Singh, CO City, Sitapur, under section 151 at 4.30 am on the 4th of October, 2021. At the time I was arrested I was traveling within the district of Sitapur, approximately 20 km from the border of dist Lakhimpur Kheri which was under section 144 however to my knowledge section 144 was not imposed in Sitapur."

Gandhi had been detained by the Uttar Pradesh police on Monday as she, along with other party leaders, were travelling to Lakhimpur Kheri to pay her respects to the kin of those farmers who had died in the unrest on Sunday.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Gandhi said that she had been travelling to Lakhimpur with four other persons – Congress leaders Deepender Hooda and Sandeep Singh, and two local party workers – when she was detained.

She further made the following allegations:

"I have not been served with any order or notice. Nor have they shown me an FIR. I have myself seen a portion of a paper on social media in which they have named 11 people- 8 of whom were not even present at the time I was arrested. I have not been produced in front of a magistrate or any other judicial officer either. I have also not been allowed to meet my legal counsel who has been standing at the gate since morning."

FIR Against Priyanka Gandhi for 'Disturbing Peace'

An FIR has been lodged against 11 people, including Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, for 'disturbing peace', SHO Hargaon Police Station, Sitapur district, said on Tuesday, 5 October, reported news agency ANI.

A case has reportedly been registered against Gandhi under IPC Section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offences).

Deepender Hooda and Ajay Kumar Lallu have also been booked for the same, the report said.

"Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wanted to visit Lakhimpur Kheri but as Section 144 of CrPC was imposed in the district, the administration has stopped the entry of political leaders. We've stopped Priyanka Gandhi in Sitapur," District Magistrate Sitapur Vishal Bhardwaj was quoted as saying by ANI.

Priyanka Gandhi, on Tuesday morning, had taken to Twitter to address PM Narendra Modi, writing that she had been kept in detention for the last 28 hours without any order or FIR.

Gandhi, who was on her way to meet kin of farmers who died during the violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district on Sunday, 3 October, was arrested on Monday morning, 4 October, Congress’ youth wing national president Srinivas BV claimed.

Earlier on Tuesday, she also tweeted a viral video purportedly showing the farmers being mowed down on Sunday, 3 October, in Lakhimpur Kheri, saying that the person behind the incident had not been arrested yet.

She also tweeted a video of herself, addressing PM Modi and asking why the minister has not been removed as yet.

'Police Not Sharing Anything With Us': Deepender Hooda

Congress leader Deepender Hooda, who had also been detained on Monday, said on Tuesday, "We were told that we were arrested under Section 151 of IPC, under which police can't detain us for more than 24 hours. Through media, we got to know that an FIR has been filed against us but the police are not sharing anything with us."

"We (including Priyanka Gandhi) are in custody in Sitapur police lines for about last 40 hours. No one is allowed to meet us. If we're in police custody, we should have been produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, which has not happened," he added.

Meanwhile, Congress workers broke barriers and raised slogans in Sitapur on Tuesday as Gandhi remained under detention, reported news agency ANI.

What Happened on Monday?

In videos tweeted by Srinivas, Gandhi can be seen contesting the police for stopping her, saying, "I am not more important than the people you have killed. The government you are defending. You give me a legal warrant, a legal basis or else I will not move from here and you won't touch me."

Later on Monday, in a video doing the rounds on the internet, she was also seen sweeping the floor of the room in which she has been detained. According to youth Congress leader Srinivas BV, who tweeted a video of the same, Priyanka has also started to fast while in detention.

Priyanka Gandhi had reached the Lucknow airport on Sunday evening, following the death of farmers after being allegedly run over by the car of Ashish Misra, son of Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs, Ajay Misra.

Speaking to NDTV from custody on Monday, Gandhi further said she has no idea where she is currently being detained and wants to know why she has been arrested.

"I don't know where I am; placed me under arrest without any paperwork," she told NDTV.

She also said she was "manhandled, pushed and shoved" and that the UP police followed her convoy and tried to stop them at various points while they were on the way to Lakhimpur Kheri.

(With inputs from NDTV.)