SP members prevented from meeting AU student leader in jail, detained

Prayagraj: Over a dozen Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders, including MLAs RK Patel and Hakim Lal Bind and MLC Maan Singh Yadav were detained on Thursday when they had gone to meet jailed Samajwadi Yuvjan Sabha leader Ajay Samrat at Naini central jail.Sources said Samrat is lodged at Naini central jail in connection with assault on teachers of Allahabad University and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act case earlier this month. Meanwhile, SP leaders have sought a written explanation from jail authorities as to why they were denied permission to meet the jailed SP leader. SP leader and former Allahabad University Students' Union (AUSU) vice-president Adeel Hamza alleged, “A seven-member delegation of SP leaders had gone to meet student leader Ajay Samrat. The jail and district administration did not allow the SP leaders to meet Samrat. When the leaders sat on a dharna in front of the jail gate, on duty police personnel detained them and brought them to reserve police lines.” Hamza said, “The action of the ruling BJP government shows that this government was anti-student”. SP leaders claimed that the seven-member delegation had arrived in Sangam City to meet the jailed SP student leader on the directive of party national president Akhilesh Yadav. Party sources said Samrat was taking active part in a month-long campaign demanding roll back of hiked fees and restoration of the student union.