Rahul Gandhi to visit violence-hit Sambhal amid ban on entry of outsiders

    Lucknow/Sambhal, Dec 4 (PTI) A Congress delegation led by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will visit the violence-hit Sambhal on Wednesday, with police and administration geared up to stop them before reaching the district.
    Prohibitory orders, including a ban on the entry of outsiders, are in place in Sambhal. Last week, several Samajwadi Party (SP) MPs were stopped from entering the district.
    Security was tightened in Sambhal, where four people died and many were injured in the November 24 violence, and vehicles were being checked at district borders.
    Curbs under Section 163 (power to issue order in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which were set to expire on Sunday, have now been extended till December 31 in Sambhal.
    All the honourable public representatives have been told that it will be better if they do not come to Sambhal till December 10, Superintendent of Police Krishan Kumar told reporters.
    "For this, a message has also been sent to them and they have also been informed about BNSS 163 being enforced in Sambhal. I hope that they will cooperate with us in maintaining the peace and order of Sambhal," he said.
    District Magistrate Rajendra Pensia on Tuesday wrote a letter to the police commissioners of Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad and the superintendents of police of Amroha and Bulandshahr districts, urging them to stop Gandhi at the borders of their districts keeping in mind the "communal sensitivity" of Sambhal.
    Gandhi will be accompanied by five other Congress MPs from Uttar Pradesh. Newly-elected Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is also likely to be part of the delegation.
    "Police are citing BNS 163 in their missive. So we will insist that they allow at least 4 people. If stopped, we will push for allowing Rahul ji, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra ji, UP incharge Avinash Pande ji and myself to enter," Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai told PTI.
    Congress legislative party leader Aradhana Mishra Mona told reporters that she had been put under house arrest.
    "I am under house arrest. This is 'gundagardi' (hooliganism) and 'arajakta' (anarchy) of the government. Rahul ji, Congress party and I will visit Sambhal today, tomorrow or whenever we can," she said.
    The party only wants to meet the families of the victims, she said.
    Gandhi is expected to leave Delhi at 10 am for Sambhal and visit the families of those killed in the November 24 violence. After meeting the families, Gandhi will return to Delhi by road, according to his itinerary.
    Tension had been brewing in Sambhal since November 19, when a Mughal-era mosque was surveyed on court orders following claims that a Harihar temple previously stood at the site.
    Violence erupted during a second survey on November 24 as protesters gathered near Shahi Jama Masjid and clashed with security personnel. Many people were injured in the violence.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)