VARANASI:
A four-member delegation of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was on Saturday stopped from visiting the Sonbhadra district in Uttar Pradesh, where 10 people died in a caste violence on Wednesday.
The TMC said that a delegation comprising party senior leaders, including Derek O”Brien, Sunil Mondal, Abhir Ranjan Biswas and former MP Uma Saren, were stopped at the Varanasi airport after they deboarded the plane in Varanasi. The TMC in its tweet quoted Brien as saying: “Trinamool Parliamentary delegation detained at Varanasi airport. ADM, SP have not told us under which section. (“Doing as told from topmost”). We have told them that we will cooperate, wish to meet injured and then proceed to Sonbhadra to meet and give confidence to grieving families.”
On Friday, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi was detained in Mirzapur and taken to Chunar guest house. She was also not allowed to go and meet the victims families in Sonbhadra. At least 10 people, including three women, died and over 24 were injured in a clash between Gond and Gujjar communities over a land dispute in Sonebhadra on Wednesday.
The police have arrested 29 people, including the kingpin Yogesh Dutt, in connection with the violence in Sonbhadra. A case has been filed against 78 people.
