Illegally confined, no FIR shown, not allowed to meet counsel: Priyanka Gandhi on her detention
In a statement, she 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.
FollowCongress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday stated that in the over 38 hours that she has been confined to Sitapur’s PAC compound, no notice or FIR has been provided to her and she was not allowed to meet her legal counsel.
In a statement, she 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.
"I have not been served with any order or notice. Nor have they shown me an FIR. I have not been produced in front of a magistrate or any other judicial officer either. I have also not been allowed to meet my legal counsel who has been standing at the gate since morning," the Congress leader also said.
Gandhi said that following a verbal statement by arresting officer DCP Piyush Kumar Singh, CO City, Sitapur, that she has been arrested under section 151, she hasn’t received any further communication, so far.
According to Hargaon Police station SHO Brijesh Tripathi, a case has been filed against 11 including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Devindra Hooda and Ajay Kumar Lallu under Section 107/16 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), ANI reported.
“Total 11 persons have been arrested by us. On Monday around 4.30 am, Priyanka ji was stopped while on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri. We told her that you should not go there as the situation is not fine and section 144 CrPC is in effect. She did not listen to us and in proper security presence, we had to take her to a local guest house,” Indian Express quoted Hargaon station house officer (SHO) Brijesh Kumar Tripathi as saying.
Earlier on Tuesday, Priyanka told NDTV that she had been "verbally arrested". "I am in custody completely illegally; even my arrest, which was a verbal arrest, is illegal considering I have been here more than 24 hours. I have not been served [notice] or brought before a magistrate in this period," Priyanka told NDTV.
There have been country-wide protests against Priyanka Gandhi’s detention and hundreds of Congress workers have been sitting outside the PAC guest house in Sitapur, waiting for their leader's release.
