SP leaders and workers were staging the protest on fuel price hike (Representational)
A case against 24 Samajwadi Party leaders, including its district unit president, has been registered for allegedly defying social distancing norms while protesting against the fuel price hike, police said on Saturday.
The SP leaders, however, claimed that the administration wants to intimidate them by lodging a case.
The party leaders had staged a demonstration on Friday during which they violated social distancing norms, Superintendent of Police S Anand said.
A case has been lodged against 24 SP leaders, including its district unit president Tanveer Khan, at Sadar Bazar police station, he added.
When contacted, Mr Khan said SP leaders and workers were staging the protest on fuel price hike and other pressing issues on the directives of party president Akhilesh Yadav.
"The administration is trying to suppress the voice of the Samajwadi Party workers and wants to intimidate them by lodging cases," Mr Khan said, adding that his party has always raised voice against injustice and will not deviate from it at any cost.
Rejecting the charge that social distancing norms were violated, he said all necessary precautions were taken during the protest.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)