Rahul, Priyanka stopped outside Meerut, barred from meeting Kin of protesters killed in CAA violence

Meerut, Dec 24: Congress leaders and Gandhi siblings -- Rahul and Priyanka were on Tuesday stopped outside this Uttar Pradesh city on the Meerut bypass road when they were on their way to meet the kin of victims'' of alleged police firing during the anti-CAA-NRC protests last week.

The two had requested that they, along with another Congress leader, be allowed to meet the families, but were denied entry, Congress sources said in Delhi.

The Gandhis were stopped near Partapur police station. "We asked the police to show us order, but they did not show us any order for stopping us and told us to return," Rahul Gandhi told reporters.

The two leaders left for Meerut this morning to meet some of the family members of the deceased protesters. At least five protesters died in Meerut alone.

The Congress leaders have headed back to Delhi.

Priyanka Gandhi had on Sunday met the families of some of the protesters who died in Bijnor. Seventeen people are reported to have died in Uttar Pradesh during protests against the new citizenship law.

Earlier in the day, the Yogi Adityanath administration cited that section 144 of the CrPC has been imposed in parts of the state in view of sporadic violent incidents that took place during the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act demonstration that saw 15 deaths.