The girls who were seen waving black flags are Allahabad University students.
Highlights
- Three students showed black flags at Amit Shah's convoy in Allahabad
- The three are part of Samajwadi Party's student wing
- One of the students was beaten up, her hair pulled by cop
Two women students of Allahabad University were arrested on Friday after they waved black flags at the convoy of BJP president Amit Shah who was visiting the city. Both of them were dragged, with one of them grabbed by her hair and beaten by a policeman.
A video that is being widely shared on social media shows the two students standing in the middle of the road and blocking the lead vehicle in the BJP president's convoy and then waving black flags. Another male student too can be seen waving a piece of black cloth at the convoy.
Male policemen then rush in and drag the three protesting students away. As the three are pushed into a police vehicle, a policeman can be seen hitting one of the women students, Neha Yadav, with his baton. Another police officer grabs her by her hair and pushes her towards the vehicle. In a video shot from another angle, a senior police officer can be then be seen rushing in to intervene and shouting, "no beatings".
Police said the students - 25-year-old Neha Yadav, 24-year-old Rama Yadav and Kishan Maurya - will be produced before court today. The three of them are part of Samajwadi Party's student wing, the Samajwadi Chatra Sabha.
Police said Neha Yahav is a pursuing her PhD and Rama Yadav is doing her postgraduate studies at Allahabad University.
"Students were trying to show black flags in a peaceful manner but they were brutally assaulted and abused and there was no lady police. The law was violated. Male officers misbehaved and assaulted ladies," Samajwadi Party leader Richa Singh said.
The Uttar Pradesh police have banned black flags, handkerchiefs or clothes from the rallies of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after a series of incidents where blag flags were shown to him in rallies across the state.
In June last year, 12 students were arrested by the Lucknow police and charged under serious sections of the law for showing black flags and holding up the convoy of Yogi Adityanath at a Lucknow University function . The Lucknow Police charged the students under serious offences including rioting, and rejected accusations of an overreach and said that the students were responsible for a breach in the Chief Minister's security protocol. The students got bail a few months later.