Rahul Gandhi and Priyanaka Gandhi were going to meet the family of the victim in the Hathras gang rape who died on Tuesday and whose dead-of-night cremation by the UP police has provoked nationwide outrage. They were stopped by the Police in Greater Noida near the Yamuna Expressway.
Rahul Gandhi claimed that he was pushed to the ground and lathi-charged. “Just now police pushed me, lathicharged me and threw me to the ground. I want to ask, can only Modi Ji and RSS walk in this country? Can’t a normal person walk? Our vehicle was stopped, so we started walking,” the former Congress president said. “Nothing will stop those who fight for justice. Not bullets, not batons, not even tyrants,” the Congress said in a tweet.
Photos and videos on social media showed Rahul Gandhi falling down as the police pushed him. Several opposition leaders expressed anger over the way the UP Police treated the two politicians.
In a heated discussion with the Police, when Rahul Gandhi asked on what grounds he was being arrested on, the Police said it was under Section 188.
The Police argued that large gatherings were banned in the area and hence the Gandhis were stopped their convoy. The Gandhis also briefly sat on the road with hundreds of supporters. UP Minister, Siddharth Nath Singh said to this incident, “It is a photo-op by the Gandhis,”.
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gadnhi were later taken by the Police and released after brief inquiry.
The Samajwadi Party had also protested at the Hathras border when they were stopped from proceeding to the woman’s village. Since today morning, 1st Oct, reporters had also been barred from the village.