Congressional leader Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi were able to travel to Hathras to visit the family of the 19-year-old gang rape victim after being briefly detained on the Delhi-Noida border.
Uttar Pradesh police allowed the leaders, accompanied by former Member of Parliament Deepender Singh Hooda and other congressional workers, to cross the border.
This was his second attempt to meet the victim’s family. The brothers were detained by UP police while walking towards Hathras after their vehicles were stopped in sight of Section 144 on Thursday. They were charged with violating Section 144 and the anti-pandemic law.
Noida Police Commissioner Alok Singh said, citing Section 144, that a maximum of seven people, including Gandhis, will be allowed to cross the border. He asked the rest of the congressional workers to return.
Police used a lathicharge charge to disperse the crowd from the DND toll plaza. The DND plaza has not yet been opened to general traffic.
Noida’s Additional Deputy Police Commissioner Ranvijay Singh had previously said the leaders were violating Section 144 and urged the crowd to disperse in the broader public interest.
“They are violating Section 144 of the CrPC. We are deployed here to control the illegal gathering of people. We call for peace amid the Covid-19 outbreak, for a broader public interest, they should disperse, ”he said before part of the convoy was allowed to pass.
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