By IANS,
Dasna (Uttar Pradesh): Union Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology Sachin Pilot Sunday visited villagers from Uttar Pradesh’s Bhatta-Parsaul village languishing in a local jail and said they feared for their families’ safety back home.Continuing the Congress strategy of putting the Mayawati-led government in Uttar Pradesh in the dock over the alleged police atrocities in Bhatta-Parsaul in Greater Noida, Pilot, who visited villagers lodged in the Dasna jail near Ghaziabad, said farmers had been individually picked up from their homes and thrown into jail without being informed of the charges under which they were being held.
“They are very scared and were weeping. The sections under which they have been arrested have not been disclosed to the villagers. They don’t know why it has been done,” Pilot told reporters after meeting the detainees.
“The law and order machinery has collapsed. The police went to their homes and individually picked them up. They are worried about their kin that in case they do not cooperate, something untoward might happen to their families,” he added.
Bhatta-Parsaul hit the headlines May 7 when four people, including two policemen, were killed when villagers clashed with policemen while agitating for higher compensation for their lands acquired by the Uttar Pradesh government for developmental projects. Some 25 villagers are said to have been detained, though police were silent about this.
Most men aged between 18-55 fled their homes following the incident, fearing a crackdown by security forces.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi Monday took eight farmers from the area to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and alleged that women had been raped and that people had found 74 heaps of ashes with dead bodies inside after the violence May 7.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) Saturday said the women in the village had been molested and sexually assaulted and recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the alleged atrocities against women.
Pilot said the detained villagers spoke of a woman called Bala, who has been missing from the night when the clashes happened with the police.
“One lady in Parsaul village, Bala, has been missing from that night itself. NCW has verified that the women were molested,” said Pilot.
“There should be thorough judicial probe. We are here for the rights of the people. We are going to ensure that their voices are heard.”