UP Police arrest Congress activists demanding release of state unit chief Ajay Kumar Lallu

Thousands of Congress activists were arrested by the UP Police on Saturday after they hit the street in various cities in Uttar Pradesh, demanding the release of UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu, the state unit of the party said.

It has been more than 25 days that the UP Congress chief has been kept in a jail in Lucknow in an alleged case of forgery.

Lalan Kumar, convener of UPCC’s media department, shared a video in which Congress workers can be seen shouting slogans, demanding the release of Lallu.

In Lucknow, hundreds of Congress workers staged a sit-in protest, demanding Lallu’s release.

Ajay Rai, former MLA and Congress candidate from Varanasi in last year’s Lok Sabha polls, was arrested by Varanasi police when he stepped out to protest against the arrest.

Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Satav has shared a picture of Lallu with Rahul Gandhi and demanded release of the jailed leader.

The Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court on Friday denied bail to Lallu, arrested for alleged forgery of documents of buses arranged for ferrying stranded migrant laborers during the coronavirus lockdown.

It was the second time when Lallu was denied bail, despite being jailed for more than 23 days. Before Allahabad HC, a sessions court had also denied bail to the Congress leader.

The next hearing in the case is on June 16. The bench has asked UP police to submit a case diary before the court on the same day.

Lallu was arrested twice on May 20 – first by Agra police for protest against the UP government for not granting permission to allow buses for migrants, and then by the Lucknow police.