Lakhimpur Kheri violence: Case against Priyanka, Hooda in Sitapur

Kept in illegal confinement; no FIR shown, not allowed to meet counsel: Gandhi

The Uttar Pradesh Police has booked Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and 10 other people under sections related to preventive custody due to apprehension of breach of peace, officials said here Tuesday, as party leaders questioned her detention beyond 24 hours without an FIR.

Later in the day, she alleged that she was being held illegally at the PAC compound in Sitapur and no notice or FIR had been provided to her even after her 38-hour detention and was not allowed to meet her legal counsel.

The case under Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) sections 144,151, 107, 116 (all related to preventive detention due to apprehension of breach of peace) has also been registered against Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu and party leader Deependra Hooda, officials said.

In a statement, Priyanka said she has not been produced in front of a magistrate or any other judicial officer and neither has she been allowed to meet her legal counsel, who has been standing at the gate of the compound since morning.

"Presently I am not going into the details of the completely illegal physical force used on my colleagues and me at the time of my arrest as this statement serves merely to clarify the continuing illegality of my confinement at the PAC compound in Sitapur, UP," she said.

Gandhi Vadra has been kept in detention since Monday morning after she wanted to meet the families of the victims of the Lakhimpur clashes. 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.