Lakhimpur Kheri violence: Police arrests Priyanka, files case against UP Congress Chief and 10 others

Sitapur (UP): Over a day after Priyanka Gandhi was detained, UP Police formally arrests the Congress General Secretary as a case was registered against her at the Hargaon police station in Sitapur under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including disobeying prohibitory orders and abetment.

The PAC guest house where she has been under detention since Monday has been notified as a temporary jail.

Quoting official sources, IANS reports that a case has been filed under Sections 151, 107 and 116, on a report given by the station house officer of Hargaon to the magistrate.

According to a PTI report, the case has also been registered against Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu and party leader Deependra Hooda and 10 others under sections related to preventive detention due to apprehension of breach of peace.

Earlier this morning, Priyanka tweeted a viral video of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and asked why has the person behind the killing of four farmers have not been arrested while she has been under detention for 28 hours without an FIR.

Her party alleged that drones were being used to monitor the movement of Priyanka at PAC guest house.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel tweeted a video of drones monitoring. "Who will take responsibility, whose drone is this and why," he tweeted. Baghel, who arrived in Lucknow on Tuesday afternoon, was not allowed to move out of the airport.

The Congress is alleging that she has been kept in illegal custody for 30 hours as she was taken in custody early on Monday morning in the Hargaon area in Sitapur.

Hundreds of Congress workers have been sitting outside the PAC guest house in Sitapur, waiting for their leader's release.Priyanka Gandhi has said that as soon as she is released, she will proceed to Lakhimpur Kheri to meet the bereaved families.

Meanwhile, Congress workers in Srinagar led by state Congress committee president G.A.Mir, staged a protest on Tuesday against Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's arrest in Uttar Pradesh.

Addressing the media, at the party headquarters, Mir said that the police highhandedness against Priyanka was condemnable and it reflected the lawlessness in the state.

Mir said all the Congress workers had gathered at the party headquarters to send out the message that they all were in solidarity with the farmers of the country.

"The police are not allowing us to move outside of our office. We are here to register our protest," he said.

Eight people were killed as violence erupted during a farmers' protest, claiming the lives of both farmers and BJP workers ahead of a visit to Lakhimpur by Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.

Several Congress leaders including P Chidambaram have questioned Gandhi's detention, describing it as "totally illegal" and "unconstitutional".

In a statement Tuesday, Chidambaram said that the facts and circumstances concerning Gandhi's detention in Sitapur "conclusively establish that there is no rule of law in UP".