SP leader held hostage over development issues, let off later

A senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader, enjoying the status of a state minister, was Tuesday held hostage by angry residents in Uttar Pradesh's Mainpuri, the parliamentary constituency of party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Tota Ram Yadav, chairman of UP Processing and Construction Cooperative Federation Ltd. (PACCFED) was held hostage in Jamuniya village when he went there to flag off a cycle "yatra" of the ruling party.

As he was telling the people about the development work undertaken by the Akhilesh Yadav government, angry villagers shouted him down, saying their village neither had power supply nor proper roads.

They took him hostage and locked him in a room for over 30 minutes, an official present at the event venue said.

Senior police officials rushed to the site, pacified the angry villagers and persuaded them to release the leader.

Yadav apologised to the villagers and assured them that the village would soon be developed, adding that he would take their complaints to the chief minister for redressal.