Azamgarh Railway Station.................

Priyanka storms Akhilesh'' citadel, meets kin of jailed anti-CAA protestors

12 FEBRUARY 2020  Last Updated at 5:14 PM | SOURCE: PTI

Azamgarh (UP), Feb 12 (PTI) Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday visited Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav parliamentary constituency Azamgarh and met family members of jailed anti-CAA protesters, asserting that raising voice in a democracy was not a crime.

Accusing the BJP governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh of trying to destroy the Constitution, she dubbed both governments as "anti-poor and anti-people".

Addressing people at Bilhariaganj locality here from the rooftop of her SUV, Priyanka Gandhi said, "Whatever happened with you was wrong, was an injustice. All of us will stand against the injustice. The government which is at the Centre, and the one which is in UP, is anti-people and anti-poor, and is working to destroy the Constitution.

"If you and we do not save it, the Constitution will be destroyed," she cautioned the people.

"You have seen the BJP government in Uttarakhand said the reservation is not a constitutional right," she said, alleging that the state government was talking of destroying the Constitution.

"You all have to stand up because all the laws which they are planning to bring in are not against one community, but against the entire Constitution," she said amid slogan shouting by the crowd.

Asserting that the Congress party will stand with peaceful protesters, the party general secretary said, "I heard the women folk. I had gone to Bijnor, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Lucknow and Varanasi and other places where the police and the administration committed atrocities. A report was drafted by our party and given to the NHRC."

She said she would also send names of policemen who committed atrocities in Azamgarh.

"The Congress party stands by you today, it will stand by you tomorrow, and will continue to stand by you until you get justice," she added.

Several Muslim women had staged a protest at Maulana Jauhar Park area here last week against the amended Citizenship Act and the proposed creation of a National Register of Citizens (NRC) but were dispersed by the police.

An FIR was registered against 35 identified and over 100 unidentified people involved in the protests that day.

Of them, 20 people were arrested, police had said.

This is the Congress general secretary''s second visit to eastern UP in less than a week after her Varanasi trip on Sunday on the occasion of Ravidas Jayanti.

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Six cops from whose custody accused escaped in Varanasi suspended

By: Express News Service | Mumbai | Published: February 27, 2020 5:13:12 am

The Mumbai Police suspended six policemen after an accused, booked in a fraud case, in their custody allegedly escaped when they took him for a hearing to Varanasi. The accused, who was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch, managed to persuade the officials to take him to his hometown in Azamgarh for a family function and fled from the back door of his residence, police said.

Police have identified the six suspended policemen as Assistant Inspector Gajanan Chormal, Constables Rambhau Chakor, Anil Mahajan, Balu Mahajan, Sandeep Shinde and Avinash Nagre.

According to police, the six policemen and the accused, identified as Manoj Singh, left Mumbai on February 9. They were to produce Manoj before the Azamgarh court the next day, following which they booked a train ticket the same evening.

Police said after the court appearance, Manoj persuaded three of the policemen to take him to his native place in the evening on the pretext of a family function and fled after they reached there. 

Late on February 10, the three policemen, posted at the local arms department of the Mumbai Police, informed the police in Azamgarh that Manoj had escaped, after which they began a search operation, police added. 

An FIR was filed at Deedarganj police station under sections 223 (escape from confinement or custody negligently suffered by public servant) and 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) of the Indian Penal Code. 

After a preliminary inquiry, the three policemen, who escorted Manoj to Azamgarh, were arrested for illegally taking him to his native place. The remaining three policemen, who stayed back in Varanasi, are yet to be traced. 

The arrested policemen were later released on bail. A senior IPS officer from the Mumbai Police confirmed the suspension and refused to further comment on the matter. 

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"Always Be My Brave Girl": Priyanka Gandhi's Letter To 6-Year-Old

A six-year-old girl in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, has received a surprise letter and gifts from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Anabia Imaan received the handwritten letter and gifts - including a school bag, a teddy bear, a lunch box and chocolates - on Wednesday afternoon, reports Deccan Herald.  

Priyanka Gandhi, 48, had met Anabia last week when she visited family members of jailed anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters in Azamgarh. Anabia had been present at the protest site with her aunt when police had forcibly removed the protestors.

During her meeting with the Congress leader, the six-year-old had broken down when asked how she was doing. A video of Priyanka Gandhi consoling her had been widely shared online.

In her letter, signed "Priyanka Aunty", the Congress leader asked Anabia to be a brave girl and call her whenever she wanted to.

"Dear Anabia, I have bought a few things for you. I hope you like them," she wrote in Hindi. "Always remain my 'brave girl' and call me whenever you want to. Lots of love, Priyanka Aunty."

According to National Herald, the letter and gifts were delivered to Anabia by the head of the Uttar Pradesh-Congress minority cell, Shahnawaz Alam.

Priyanka Gandhi had visited Azamgarh last Wednesday. Asserting that the Congress would stand with peaceful protesters, the party general secretary said, "I heard stories of women. I went to Bijnor, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Lucknow and Varanasi and other places where the police and the administration committed atrocities. A report was drafted by our party and given to the NHRC.

"The Congress party stands by you today, it will stand by you tomorrow, and will continue to stand by you until you get justice," she added.

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