Veggie sellers detained for protesting tomato price increases are freed on bond
According to authorities, a vegetable seller and his son were freed from the district prison on Wednesday night after being granted bail by the court. They had been detained on Monday for allegedly participating in rallies over the soaring cost of tomatoes.
Two bouncers were stationed outside vegetable seller Jaganarayan Yadav’s store in the Nagwan neighbourhood on Sunday by Samajwadi Party (SP) member Ajai Fauji in protest of the increase in tomato prices. The seller and his son Vikas Yadav were subsequently detained on Monday by officers from Lanka police station.
On the basis of a complaint made by the supervisor of the Nagwa police outpost, the police opened an investigation against Fauji, the seller, and his son. According to police sources, the trio was charged with violating the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 153 A (promote enmity between various communities), 295A (deliberate and malicious actions designed to offend religious emotions), and 505 (2) (purpose to create fear or alarm to the public).
Fauji was said to be on the run while the father and son were apprehended and sent to the Varanasi district prison.
The father-son team was greeted by SP district president Sujit Yadav Lakkar and several other party officials after their release.
