Lucknow: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was detained at the Lucknow airport by the Uttar Pradesh police according to media reports. He was denied permission to enter Lucknow and therefore he sat on the floor protesting yesterday.
Mr Baghel said he wanted to meet Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who has been in police custody since yesterday in Sitapur. She said she was “illegally” arrested when she was on her way to Lakhimpur to meet those affected by Sunday’s violence while daring the UP government to keep her in custody “indefinitely”.
“I came to Lucknow to meet Priyanka Gandhi ji at Sitapur. But I am not being allowed to leave the airport,” the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister said.
In a tweet, the 60-year-old leader wrote in Hindi: “Without any order, I am being stopped outside the Lucknow airport.”
The photo he shared shows him in a white kurta-pyjama, sitting on the floor, surrounded by cops and his guards who are looking at him.
The Congress leader also shared a nearly one-minute long video where he can be seen questioning the officials. “Dhara 144 to Lakhimpur me hai. Hum Lakhimpur to jaa nahi rahe hain. Problem kya hai? (Prohibitory orders are in Lakhimpur, but we are not going there. So what’s the problem),” he asks a cop.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
