GHAZIABAD: With prohibitory orders in place in Sambhal, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was stopped at the Ghazipur border here on Wednesday on his way to the district, a senior police officer said.
Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other senior Congress leaders reached the Ghazipur border in the morning where heavy police force was deployed and barricades put up to stop them from entering Sambhal.
Curbs under Section 163 (power to issue an 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.
Sambhal 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 Rahul Gandhi at the borders of their districts.
Gandhi, who has Z+ security cover, stood close to his car and was seen talking with UP Police personnel. According to sources, he was shown a notice by the police in which he was disallowed to go towards Sambhal.
"We will not permit Rahul Gandhi to Sambhal as prohibitory orders have been issued by the administration there. Police will stop Gandhi at UP gate," Ghaziabad Police Commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra told PTI.
He said ample police force has been deployed at the spot, he said.
Thousands suffer due to traffic at Delhi-Noida border
While the Congress delegation on one side kept negotiating with cops, massive traffic jams kept building up causing extreme inconvenience to the people and disrupting traffic since the early hours on Wednesday. Vehicles were seen clogged on the road for several kilometres.
The cops placed a wall of barricades on the national highway while hundreds of police personnel stood there to stop any kind of intrusion of politicians.
"My daughter is having an examination in Meerut at 1 pm. I have been stuck in traffic for the past two hours. If politicians want to protest, they can sit on the side of the road. Why should the public suffer?" a commuter told this newspaper.
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.
Four people were killed in the violence and many more were injured.
(With additional inputs from Ujwal Jalali)
