AAP Leader Soni Sori Arrested For Holding Meeting Without Permission

Social activist and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Soni Sori was on Saturday arrested for trying to hold a public meeting without permission in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, the police said.

Sori was arrested from Palnar village under preventive sections 151, 107 and 116 of CrPC, senior police official Dantewada Abhishek Pallava said. She was later released on bail by a local court.

Sori, in a letter on Friday evening, sought permission from the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) to hold a public meeting at Palnar or Kuakonda villages on October 5 in support of people languishing in jails in Naxal-hit areas of the state, the police official said.

The SDM denied permission as there were no details about the venue of the indefinite public meeting, time or number of participants in the letter, he said.

The law and order situation was also a reason for denial of permission as it takes time to ensure sufficient security at venues of such meetings, he added.

Despite not getting permission, Sori on Saturday reached a weekly market in Palnar and started informing people about the public meeting, despite police requests to desist, following which she was arrested, he said.