Congress leaders including Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have been stopped at the Ghazipur border on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, on their way to violence-hit Sambhal, acccording to an ANI report.
‘Prohibitory Orders in Place’
Earlier in the day, speaking to PTI, a senior police officer had said that due to prohibitory orders in place in Sambhal, Gandhi would be stopped at the Uttar Pradesh gate on his way to Sambhal district, the news agency reported.
Sambhal is facing curbs under Section 163 (power to issue an order in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), till December 31, 2024. While this was earlier set to expire on December 1, the order has been extended till the year-end.
A Congress delegation led by Gandhi, including will visit the violence-hit Sambhal on Wednesday. He will be accompanied by five other Congress MPs from Uttar Pradesh. Newly-elected Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is also likely to be part of the delegation.
“We will not permit Rahul Gandhi to Sambhal as prohibitory orders have been issued by the administration there. Police will stop Gandhi at UP gate,” Ghaziabad Police Commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra told PTI.
He said ample police force has been deployed at the spot, he said.
Tension had been brewing in Sambhal since November 19, when a Mughal-era mosque was surveyed on court orders following claims that a Harihar temple previously stood at the site.
Violence erupted during a second survey on November 24 as protesters gathered near Shahi Jama Masjid and clashed with security personnel. Four people were killed in the violence and many more were injured.
