A Congress worker died during the party’s protest near the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday. State Congress chief Ajay Rai alleged that the death was a result of “police brutality.”
The deceased, identified as 28-year-old Prabhat Pandey from Gorakhpur, was the subject of an FIR registered at the Husainganj police station under Section 103 of BNS, police said. The case was filed based on a complaint by Pandey’s family, who stated that he had no pre-existing health conditions.
Raveena Tyagi, DCP Central Lucknow, stated that initial medical reports showed no signs of injury. “Today, at around 5 pm, a person named Prabhat Pandey s/o Deepak Pandey, aged 28, resident of Gorakhpur, was brought to the Civil Hospital from the Congress office in an unconscious state. The doctors declared him brought dead. Prima facie, as per the doctors, there are no signs of injury on him,” she said.
She added, “The post-mortem will be videographed. Further action would be taken after that.”
Must Read: No Leadership Change Discussed In INDIA Bloc, Says Omar Abdullah
Despite the preliminary findings, UP Congress chief Ajay Rai held the state police responsible for the incident and demanded financial compensation for the family. “Today, while going to gherao the assembly, our young colleague Prabhat Pandey ji passed away due to police brutality. This incident is extremely sad and condemnable,” Rai wrote in a post on X.
“Our Congress family is hurt and angry by this accident. We will not tolerate this incident at all. The Yogi government should give financial assistance of Rs 1 crore to the family of the deceased and a government job to one member of the family as compensation,” he added.
Earlier in the day, the police detained Ajay Rai and several other Congress leaders during the protest. Addressing the media, Rai criticized the government for its treatment of party workers.
“Our party workers are standing here, and they will protest against the atrocities done by the Yogi govt. The kind of atrocities this government is doing against the farmers and women will not be tolerated by the Congress workers,” Rai said.
Also Read: Indian Army Expanding AI-Based Military Surveillance
