Congress general secretary and  UP incharge of the party, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s motorcade heading to the house of a Dalit youth who died in police custody in Agra on Valmiki Jayanti was stopped by the Lucknow police personnel on Agra- Lucknow Expressway on Wednesday.

Priyanka had targeted the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh for the death of Dalit youth Arun Kumar in the custody of Jagdishpura police station personnel in Agra.

On Wednesday morning, the Congress general secretary accompanied by some party leaders left her Kaul House residence in Lucknow to meet and express condolences to the family members of deceased Arun Kumar at Agra. But as her motorcade reached the Agra- Lucknow Expressway, officers and personnel of Lucknow police accompanied by a magistrate stopped the vehicles from proceeding forward, citing imposition of prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Soon, scores of Congress leaders and workers resorted to sloganeering against the Yogi government and created a ruckus. After some heated exchange of words, Priyanka and some of her party men were taken to the reserve police lines and detained till evening.

Upon her release after a day-long high drama, Priyanka and her party leaders proceeded to Agra in the evening.

In a video that went viral soon after, Priyanka is heard saying, “They say I can't go to Agra. They stop me wherever I go. Should I keep sitting in restaurants just because it is politically convenient for them? I want to meet them (victim’s kin), what is the big deal? The moment I try to visit any place other than the party office, then they (administration) try to stop me. It also caused inconvenience to the public’. What is the law and order issue? Someone has died...we are just two-three persons going to meet the family"

Later, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted in Hindi: "Arun Valmiki died in police custody. His family is asking for justice. I want to go and meet his family. What is the UP government afraid of? Why am I being stopped? Today is Valmiki Jayanti. The PM made big statements about Mahatma Buddha, but is assaulting his (Buddha's) teachings."

In another tweet she said: "Beating someone to death in police custody -- What kind of justice is this? Arun Valmiki's death in police custody is condemnable. On Valmiki Jayanti, the UP government has acted against the teachings of Maharishi Valmiki. The incident should be probed by a high-level committee, action should be taken against the involved police officials and the family should be given compensation."

Lucknow’s Commissioner of Police DK Thakur said that neither Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was arrested nor detained. “Ms Vadra was taken to reserve police lines after her convoy disturbed traffic movement on Agra- Lucknow Expressway. She was later released in the evening.”

 In another video, UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu asked police officers whether Section 144 was imposed in Kushinagar where the prime minister addressed a huge crowd.