Sachin Pilot held, released in UP

Days after Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi's arrest, after he staged a “dharna” in the village in protest against alleged police brutalities on the farmers and women, Union Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot was on Sunday taken into custody while he was on way to Bhatta-Parsaul. He was later released. 

Pilot was arrested near Lalkuan while he was on his way to Bhatta-Parsaul villages in Greater Noida after meeting farmers lodged in the Dasna jail in Ghaziabad. The farmers were arrested in connection with clashes earlier this month in which two cops and two farmers were killed, police sources here said.

The minister alongwith scores of his supporters staged a “dharna” on the road after the police prevented him from moving ahead. He lambasted the Mayawati regime for not allowing him to visit the villages.

“The allegations of atrocities on the farmers and molestation of women in villages must be probed by an independent agency. Only then the truth will be known,” he told reporters later.

“It is very unfortunate that the perpetrators of the crime have been handed over the investigation. What can one expect from them,” Pilot said. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) state president Swami Prasad Maurya rubbished the allegations and said the Congress was trying to “re-build” itself in the state by spreading rumours. The Congress has been demanding a judicial probe into the alleged brutalities. The Mayawati government has rejected the allegations and described the Congress protests as politically motivated. The BSP also charged the party with “spreading rumours to mislead the farmers.”