6 Congress leaders get bail in Etawah clash case; UP party chief protests outside jail

Etawah (UP), Sep 4 (PTI) A special court here on Thursday granted bail to six Congress leaders, including Etawah city president Rashid Khan, in connection with a clash outside the party's district office earlier this week, an official said.  The politicians were arrested along with three others on Monday after they got into a clash with BJP workers during a march by the saffron party near the Congress office.  On Tuesday, a local court remanded all nine accused to judicial custody for 14 days after rejecting their bail pleas.  On Thursday, the bail pleas were taken up by the court of the third special judge (SC/ST Act), which granted bail to Khan, former district president of the party, Malkhan Singh Yadav, PCC member Prashant Tiwari, former city president of the party, Pallav Dubey, Asif, and Amit Tripathi on bonds of Rs 50,000 each.  The hearing on remaining bail pleas is scheduled for Saturday, according to advocates Anil Gaur, Devendra Pal, and Siddharth Shankar, who represented the Congress leaders.   Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai reached Etawah Central Jail on Thursday afternoon to meet the jailed party workers, but was denied permission by prison authorities.  Rai and his supporters staged a sit-in outside the jail and chanted bhajans in protest.

Speaking to reporters, he accused the administration of acting under political pressure and alleged that Congress workers were "falsely implicated" and "harassed" inside the jail.  Rai also accused the authorities of "acting in a partisan manner" and alleged that the jailed party workers were being denied such basic facilities as clean water and bedding. PTI COR KIS   VN VN