Activist and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Soni Sori was arrested on Saturday, 5 October, just hours before she was to address a group of villagers in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada. Sori was released on bail by a local court later in the day.
Police said that she was arrested for trying to hold a public meeting without permission, PTI reported.
Sori, in a letter on Friday evening, 4 October, had sought permission from the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) to hold a public meeting at Palnar or Kuakonda villages in Dantewada the next day, in support of people languishing in jails in Naxal-hit areas of the state, the SP said.
Over 6,000 people from nearby areas had gathered to listen to her, Scroll reported. Apart from Sori, other Adivasi leaders had also gathered at the venue, the report added.
Sori was to address people about a number of cases registered against Adivasis by the previous government. The new Congress government in the state had said that they had set up a committee to probe the arrests, the Scroll report adds.
“People want to know what steps the new government has taken. None of us are aware about any committee they’ve set up. It’s been 10 months and those who’ve been arrested haven’t been released.”Soni Sori in a statement to Scroll
Sori was arrested from Palnar village under preventive Sections 151, 107 and 116 of CrPC, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava told PTI.
The SDM denied permission for the gathering as there were no details in the letter about the venue of the indefinite public meeting, time, or number of participants, he told PTI.
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.
Without receiving permission, Sori on Saturday reached a weekly market in Palnar and started informing people about the public meeting despite police requests to desist, after which she was arrested, he said.
(With inputs from Scroll and PTI)
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