Overview
- Iqra Hasan began a sit-in at Sadar Bazar police station after a confrontation at the DIG office over a grieving mother’s demand for a probe into her son’s April death, and she led the protest on Tuesday.
- Saharanpur police had earlier arrested five people, including former minister Mangeram Kashyap, saying they blocked a road and disrupted public order outside the DIG office.
- Hasan and Samajwadi Party leaders say she was briefly held at the women’s police station for about 10 minutes and accused the DIG of misbehaving with the victim’s mother, claims the police call false while denying they took the MP into custody.
- City magistrate intervention and sustained protest by Hasan and party workers led to the five detainees being released from the district jail on Wednesday after assurances the release process would be completed.
- The episode has widened political fault lines in Uttar Pradesh, with the Samajwadi Party accusing the state administration of using police to silence dissent and officials saying they may file cases for traffic obstruction and breach of peace.