UP MLA gets bail in lockdown violation case; quarantined

An Uttar Pradesh court on Tuesday granted bail to Independent MLA Aman Mani Tripathi and seven of his associates who were arrested for allegedly violating lockdown guidelines.

The MLA from Nautanwa in Maharajganj district and 12 of his associates were arrested in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, on Sunday night and subsequently let off on bail, officials had said.

Tripathi was returning from Uttarakhand with seven of his associates when he was arrested in Najibabad area of Bijnor on Monday night, Additional Superintendent of Police Laxmi Niwas Mishra told PTI.

"On Tuesday, a local court granted them bail. But, since Bijnor falls in the red zone, the MLA and his associates have been sent to a quarantine centre for 14 days," the officer said.

On Sunday, a convoy of three cars carrying Tripathi and his associates was first intercepted by the police in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on way to Badrinath, but the MLA produced a letter of permission purportedly issued by authorities in Dehradun and moved on.

They were stopped again at a barrier in Karnaprayag by the police and administrative officials, who told them that the portals of Badrinath were scheduled to open on May 15 and there was no point in letting them go now, an official had said.

The MLA got angry and argued with officials, but they did not relent and forced the convoy to return, the officials said.

They were intercepted again at the Vyasi police outpost in Rishikesh as there were more than three persons in each car and all without masks in violation of lockdown curbs, an officer had said.

A case was registered against them under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, Epidemic Diseases Act, and the Disaster Management Act, and they were arrested. However, they were let off subsequently on personal bail bonds and allowed to leave for Uttar Pradesh.

The Uttar Pradesh government had on Monday sought to distance itself from the incident, saying the Independent MLA was not authorised to visit Uttarakhand during the lockdown.