Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien on Saturday said that the police in Varanasi had detained a delation by his party after it landed at the city airport. O’Brien said that he and his party colleagues, three of them altogether, were on their way to meet the families of the Sonbhadra massacre victims.
The video shared by the Trinamool Congress on Twitter showed O’Brien say, “Hi, we just landed at the Varanasi airport. My colleague Sunil Mondol, Abhinandan Biswas and I. The ADM is here. The SP is here. They told us that we’ve been detained. We told them we cannot be detained under section 144 as we are only three. Our intention is we wish to head to the BHU trauma centre to meet the injured and then to Sonbhadra.”
বারাণসী বিমানবন্দরে আটক (কারণ এখনও জানানো হয়নি) তৃণমূল সংসদীয় দলের ভিডিও বার্তা। তারা সোনভদ্রয় হাসপাতালে আহতদের সঙ্গে দেখা করতে এবং নিহতদের পরিবারকে সমবেদনা জানাতে যাচ্ছিলেন।
#SonbhadraMassacreদেখুন pic.twitter.com/FAH3qYW37W
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) July 20, 2019
In another video, three Trinamool leaders were seen arguing with a cop while staging dharna outside the airport. The party wrote while sharing the video, “UP admin & police have “restrained” Trinamool MPs delegation from leaving the area near the airport tarmac. Dharna continues. Tribals massacred over land rights. The DM has said he will meet us shortly.”
UP admin & police have “restrained” Trinamool MPs delegation from leaving the area near the airport tarmac. Dharna continues. Tribals massacred over land rights. The DM has said he will meet us shortly#SonbhadraMassacre
WATCH pic.twitter.com/4MBqoRw4LP
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) July 20, 2019
This comes a day after Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was prevented by the UP government from visiting the affected families in Sonbhadra. She spent the night in Mirzapur staging a protest with her supporters. Family members of two of those killed in the Sonbhadra massacre were allowed to meet her in Mirzapur on Saturday morning.
Last week, in a shocking development, 10 tribal farmers were massacred and 24 injured after the village head Yagya Dutt and his goons opened fire at the tribal farmers. The bone of contention was the farmers’ refusal to give up 36 acres of land that they claimed they had tilled for several generations. According to media reports, Dutt brought nearly 200 people in as many as 22 tractors. Ey-witnesses said that the indiscriminate firing lasted for more than 30 minutes, killing 10 farmers while leaving 24 of them injured.
