Sachin Pilot arrested on way to Bhatta-Parsaul

Sachin Pilot arrested on way to Bhatta-Parsaul

Congress leader and Union minister Sachin Pilot was on Sunday arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police while he was on his way to violence-hit Bhatta-Parsaul in Greater Noida to meet families of farmers injured in the recent agitation on land acquisition.

Union Minister of State for Information Technology Pilot, along with around 100 supporters, first went to Dasna jail to meet farmers from Bhatta and Parsaul villages lodged there since the agitation for greater compensation for acquired land.

34-year-old Pilot, after leaving Dasna jail, was proceeding towards Bhatta and Parsaul villages to meet families of farmers injured in the violence when he was arrested by the police on National Highway 24.

Pilot said he had not broken any law and demanded a judicial probe into the Bhatta-Parsaul incident in which four persons, including two policemen, were killed on 7th May.

"We want a judicial probe into the entire incident (at Bhatta-Parsaul). I was going to Bhatta-Parsaul to meet and console the families of the villagers. I was not breaking any law and my arrest is unjustified," he said.

Pilot and his supporters were taken to the police lines by the UP Police.

Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi was arrested on the night of 11th May by the UP police after he had slipped unnoticed in pre-dawn hours to the affected area in support of the farmers agitating against the state's land acquisition process for a expressway project.

Taking the land acquisition issue in UP to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's door, Gandhi had on 16th May  complained to him about about alleged "rape" of women and "murder" of farmers there, a charge denied by the Mayawati government.

NCW demands CBI probe into police action on women in Greater Noida

The National Commission for Women on Saturday sought a CBI probe into incidents of alleged atrocities on women by police in two Greater Noida villages where clashes between police and farmers claimed four lives last week.

"We demand a CBI inquiry into alleged police action against women villagers during and after the farmers-police clashes," NCW Acting Chairperson Yasmeen Abarar said.

Four persons, including two policemen, were killed in the clashes and firing in Bhatta-Parsaul villages in Greater Noida on Saturday last.

Villagers have also alleged that some police personnel trespassed into their houses and outraged dignity of women.

The national human rights commission also said it will send an investigation team to the affected villages.

The rights panel said it has received complaints about police outraging women's dignity and mercilessly lathicharging farmers demanding more compensation for their land acquired for a road project.

The opposition has flayed the UP government for its land acquisition policy while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who sat on a dharna at the village before being arrested late last night, alleged that the government has "unleashed atrocities on its own people."