UPCC president sent to Lucknow district jail

Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, May 21

After being kept in a temporary jail overnight, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) president Ajay Kumar Lallu has been sent to Lucknow district jail on Thursday after his COVID-19 test results came negative.

Lallu was arrested in Agra, on Tuesday evening, along with Congress state vice-president Pradeep Mathur and former MLC Vivek Bansal, when they had blocked the highway demanding entry into Uttar Pradesh with the 500 buses parked at the border.

They were presented before the court on Wednesday and released on interim bail until July 16 after serving personal bonds of Rs 20,000 each.

However, as soon as Lallu came out of court, he was again arrested by the waiting Lucknow police team under Sections 420 (Cheating and Dishonesty), 467 (Forgery of document) and 468 (Forgery for purpose of cheating) of the IPC.

A case under these sections were filed at the Hazratganj police station against him and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s private secretary Sandeep Singh, late on Tuesday night, for furnishing a misleading list of buses, of which the registration numbers of 170 of the 1049 buses were of vehicles other than buses.

After being brought to Lucknow, he was once again presented before a magistrate who sent him on 14-days judicial remand.

After that, he was tested for COVID-19 at Mahanagar Civil Hospital and kept in a temporary jail till the test result came.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters in Lucknow during his medical examination, Lallu said: “Such cases and jail sentences are a reward for a political worker. The government can heap cases on me and keep me in jail but they should provide immediate relief to migrant workers.”