Hathras rape case: FIR against over 500 Congress workers on SHO’s complaint

The Gautam Buddh Nagar Police has filed an FIR against over 500 Congress workers, charging them with unlawful assembly two days ago at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border in Noida amid the COVID-19 outbreak, PTI reported.

The FIR has been registered against Congress’ Gautam Buddh Nagar unit president Manoj Chaudhary, Noida unit chief Shahabuddin and 500 unnamed party workers, the police officials said.

Hundreds of Congress workers and leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, were on their way to Hathras on Saturday afternoon to meet the family of a woman who died after an alleged gangrape.

There were scuffles involving Congress workers and the Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida) Police at the DND toll plaza during which police personnel had baton-charged the crowd. Some party leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi, were manhandled, while some policemen were also hurt.

According to the FIR lodged a little earlier before midnight on October 3, the Congress workers have been booked under IPC sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (unlawfully or negligently spreading infection of any disease dangerous to life), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and under section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act.

The FIR has been lodged on a complaint by Rakesh Kumar Singh, the SHO of the Sector 20 police station.

On October 2 also, the Gautam Buddh Nagar Police had lodged an FIR against around 200 Congress workers and leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, under the Epidemic Diseases Act for not maintaining social distancing and not wearing face masks.

The party workers were detained while they were on foot on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida in a bid to go to Hathras.

Gautam Buddh Nagar is currently under CrPC section 144, which restricts assembly of more than four people, in view of the pandemic.