Cops book five Youth Congress workers

Subodh Srivastava,the UPCC general secretary,said none of the accused had indulged in violence or clashed with the police. Sixteen workers had courted arrest near Yojna Bhawan. While others were released on personal bonds,these five were booked for serious offences they did not commit,said Srivastava.

Lucknow DIG Prem Prakash,however,said: “The Congress workers have been booked under mild charges. They had committed more serious offences,manhandling a CO-rank officer and blocking the road causing trouble to common men.”

The cases against them are registered under IPC Sections 147 (rioting),148 (rioting,armed with deadly weapons),323 (voluntarily causing hurt),336 (endangering life or personal safety of others),353 (criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty),341 (wrongful restraint) and 427 (mischief). The Section 7 of CLA,under which they have been booked as well,is applied when law & order is taken to ransom.

The FIR states that the Congress workers had blocked the road at Secretariat Annex intersection,forcibly restrained vehicles and clashed with the police. Srivastava said their bail application is yet to be submitted,as they are reluctant to seek bail before Joshi is released from jail.