Lucknow, Dec 18 (IANS) A Congress worker died on Wednesday during the party’s protest near the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in Lucknow.
The body of the deceased identified as Prabhat Pandey, who had come to Lucknow to join the protest, was taken to the Civil Hospital.
Uttar Pradesh Congress President Ajay Rai reached the hospital after some time.
Ajay Rai said, “We are people who believe in Gandhiji’s ideology. We were going towards the Vidhan Sabha with the intention of registering our protest in a peaceful manner. But, the Chief Minister of the state, with the intention of suppressing the voice of the Congressmen, put the Congress workers of the entire state under house arrest a day before. At the same time, pressure was being exerted on them not to come to Lucknow.”
He also sought financial assistance of Rs 1 crore for the family of the deceased Prabhat Pandey from the UP government.
“We demand from the state government that the Chief Minister should provide financial assistance of Rs 1 crore to the family of the deceased Prabhat Pandey and a government job to one member of the family,” he added.
On the other hand, Lucknow Commissionerate DCP Raveena Tyagi said that Gorakhpur resident Prabhat Pandey was brought to the civil hospital from the Congress office in an unconscious state, where doctors declared him dead.
According to doctors, no injury was found on his body. The postmortem of the body will be videographed. Police will take further legal action.
Earlier on Wednesday, Congress leaders who were preparing to march to Lucknow to protest near the Assembly were stopped in different districts of the state and senior leaders were placed under house arrest.
The Congressmen who reached the party office in Lucknow were arrested by the police and left at Eco Garden. The police also arrested the leaders who tried to reach the Assembly.
The police arrested the state Congress president Ajay Rai who was going to protest near the Assembly. After returning from the protest, Ajay Rai reached the Civil Hospital.
–IANS
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