Lucknow: Former Congress MP from Unnao, Annu Tandon, was among four who were sentenced to two years imprisonment and were slapped with a fine of Rs 25,000 each for stopping a train for 12 minutes in 2017 while holding a demonstration in her parliamentary constituency.
In a first case of its kind, the MP-MLA Court Judge Pawan Kumar Rai took serious note of their act to delay the train, causing trouble to passengers and damaging public property. The Court awarded two years imprisonment to ex-Congress MP Annu Tandon, then party district president Surya Narayan Singh, City Chief Amit Shukla and Youth Congress State President Ankit Parihar.
The Court also slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 on each accused. The RPF had lodged an FIR on June 12, 2017 against then Congress MP Annu Tandon and others when they stopped train number 18191 at platform number 2 at Unnao junction while holding a demonstration.
After stopping the train they jumped over the engine and raised anti-government slogans. The RPF and the police, somehow, managed to take them off from the train to allow it to move further to its destination. The demonstration caused a 12 minutes delay and harassment to passengers.
It is perhaps the first case where a former MP was awarded two years punishment and slapped fine for ‘train roko’ demonstration. The former Congress MP has now joined the Samajwadi Party. Annu Tandon is the wife of late Sandeep Tandon, ex-IRS, and a close associate business tycoon Mukesh Ambani.