kanpur: A total 34 persons have been taken into custody and 24 vehicles, including an Audi vehicle, were seized on Sunday, after a case was lodged against zila panchayat member and Samajwadi Party leader of Auraiya Dharmendra Yadav and 200 others at the Civil Lines police station of Etawah on Saturday under the Disaster Management Act for flouting Covid-19 protocol and taking out a procession.
Yadav was externed by Auraiya district administration in March 2021 for a period of six months.
Subsequently, he was arrested under the Gangsters’ Act from the Umarsana area and sent to jail.
He was elected as a zila panchayat member from Bhagyanagar block-4 in Auraiya in the recently concluded panchayat election.
Yadav, who was released on bail from Etawah district jail on Friday evening, joined a procession on the Etawah-Auraiya highway allegedly with a large number of vehicles in violation of Covid-19 protocol, said senior superintendent of police Etawah Brijesh Kumar Singh.
The video of the procession which was widely circulated on Social media platforms shows Yadav travelling in an Audi car with his supporters, who are raising slogans in his favour.
Yadav, who is a native of Umarsana village of Dibiyapur in Auraiya, have been facing more than two dozen cases including those of attempt to murder.
“After the registration of a case under various sections of the IPC, including 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) besides under section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act against the SP leader and his supporters at the Civil Lines police station, we formed eight police teams and seized Audi vehicle being used by Yadav and 23 other vehicles of his supporters.
We also took 34 persons in custody from across Agra, Jalaun, Auraiya and Etawah district and are in the process of sending them to jail.
Further investigations are underway in this regard, the SSP said.
“The jail police out-post in-charge has been suspended over dereliction of duty with immediate effect.
To investigate slackness of other police personnel, a probe is being conducted by additional superintendent of police Etawah, who will submit his report soon”, the SSP further said.