UP MLA violates curbs to 'perform rites of Yogi Adityanath's dad', held

Harveer Dabas & Yogesh Kumar | TNN | Updated: May 5, 2020, 14:41 IST

Amanmani Tripathi

BIJNOR/DEHRADUN: UP police on Monday arrested independent MLA from Maharajganj in UP Amanmani Tripathi and six of his aides from the Najibabad area as they were crossing the UP border from Uttarakhand. The MLA has been accused of violating lockdown restrictions and trying to travel to Badrinath and Kedarnath on the pretext of performing post-cremation rites of UP CM Yogi Adityanath's father, Anand Singh Bisht, who had passed away recently.
The UP government had earlier in the day issued a clarification saying that neither had the CM authorised Tripathi to go to Uttarakhand on his behalf nor had the state government given him permission to do so, and that he had gone there of his own accord. Uttarakhand police had also registered an FIR on Sunday against the legislator at Rishikesh for violating the lockdown.
Tripathi’s permission to travel to Badrinath (which is currently closed) as well as Kedarnath was facilitated by a letter written by Uttarakhand additional chief secretary Om Prakash to the Dehradun district magistrate (a copy of which is with TOI) asking that permission be granted to the MLA and his aides to travel in three vehicles. The letter also adds that all of them are going to the shrine towns to participate in rituals for the UP CM’s deceased father.
According to sources, the legislator and his aides had started from Dehradun on May 2 and crossing two districts — Tehri and Pauri Garhwal—had on Sunday reached Gauchar in Chamoli district with the intention of proceeding towards Badrinath when a team of officials stopped them. Speaking to TOI, Vaibhav Gupta, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Chamoli, said, “The legislator intimidated our team posted at Gauchar when they stopped him and started having an argument with them and threatening them to let him proceed.”
The officials thereafter contacted Chamoli district magistrate Swati Bhadauria who told the MLA that the Badrinath shrine was currently closed and he cannot be allowed to go there. The MLA returned to Rishikesh where his vehicles were intercepted by a police team. Uttarakhand director general (law and order) Ashok Kumar told TOI, “A police team at the Muni-ki-Reti checkpost at Rishikesh intercepted the three vehicles and an FIR under the relevant provision of the Disaster Act, was registered against the MLA and his aides for violation of lockdown. UP police was also apprised about the entire case.”
Meanwhile, UP police officials said that the MLA and his aides have been booked under sections 268, 269 and 188 of the Indian Panel Code, sections 51 of Disaster Management Act and section 3 of the Epidemic Act.
"All seven persons will be quarantined for 14 days. Their samples will also be taken and sent for testing. If their reports come negative, they will be released,” said Bijnor SP, Sanjeev Tyagi.
Meanwhile, reacting to the matter, Yogi Adityanath’s younger brother Mahendra Singh Bisht, said, “Our family is surprised at the whole incident. These people had simply used our father’s death as a ground to get permission for travelling in Uttarakhand.”