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Priyanka Gandhi alleges UP police manhandled her, cop denies

Priyanka Gandhi alleges UP police manhandled her, cop denies

By Shalini Ojha
Dec 29, 2019
02:00 pm
What's the story

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Uttar Pradesh Police are locked in a bitter battle since yesterday after the Congress leader alleged she was manhandled by cops in Lucknow. She was on her way to meet a retired IPS officer when police "grabbed and pushed her". But a woman cop denied it saying she was merely doing her duty. Here are more details.

What happened

Her cavalcade was stopped, she hitched scooter ride, then walked

Priyanka wanted to visit 76-year-old SR Darapuri, who was arrested for participating in the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests. After her cavalcade was allegedly stopped, she took a ride on a party worker's scooter. But merely after two kilometers, cops stopped her at another intersection. Faced with several "restrictions", Priyanka then decided to cover the journey to Darapuri's house in Indiranagar on foot.

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Here's a clip of the scooter ride

Quote

Later, Priyanka narrated her ordeal to media

"They grabbed me by the neck and manhandled me. They then surrounded me while I was going on a party worker's two-wheeler, after which I walked to reach there," Priyanka said and claimed CM Yogi Aditynath's government must have supported police's action against her.

Support

After Priyanka's "run-in" with cops, Congress slammed UP government

Priyanka also said she is the in-charge of Congress for UP east and the government will not decide where she will visit. Naturally, Congress also stood by her with party leader Sushmita Dev saying that Priyanka was behaving in a responsible manner. "There is a goonda raj and there should be a President's Rule in the state," Dev said in a press conference.

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Separately, Robert Vadra said he is proud of his wife

Statement

No shred of truth: Cop refuted Congress leader's claims

And now, the cop at the center of the controversy has spoken up. Archana Singh, Circle Officer, Modern Control Room Lucknow, who was deployed to the area said the allegations were false. "There is no shred of truth in the claims being made on social media that cops grabbed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's neck, pushed her. I was just performing my duties," she said.

Series of events

After Priyanka changed route, Archana sought information

In the letter addressed to her seniors, Archana wrote Priyanka was supposed to go from party's headquarters to 23/2 Kaul House Gokhale Marg. "When her car suddenly took a detour, I sought information about her destination due to security concerns. The party workers refused to give information. Later, Priyanka Gandhi got down from her car and started walking with her party workers," she explained.

Her version

Not Priyanka, I was heckled, claimed Archana

Further, Archana underlined that when VIPs change routes, it leads to security concerns. The cop said she was the one who was heckled. "She sat on a scooter and neither she nor the scooter driver was wearing the helmet. When she was told that it's not right to ride without a helmet she walked her way to the residence of SR Darapuri," she said.

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Versions of both cops and Priyanka contradict one another