KUNDA MLA’S FATHER AMONG 11 UNDER HOUSE ARREST

PRAYAGRAJ Uday Pratap Singh, father of independent MLA from Kunda in Pratapgarh Raghuraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhiaya, and 10 of his supporters were put under house arrest in their respective houses on Saturday evening till Sunday night to prevent them from organising a community feast (Bhandara) which coincided with Muharram, police said.

Superintendent of police, Pratapgarh, Anurag Arya said force was deployed outside the residences of all the 11 people put under house arrest. He added that a heavy police force was deployed in Shekhupur Ashiq village where Singh wanted to organise the community feast near a Hanuman temple—the place where a monkey was killed in an accident on Muharram day in 2005.

After the incident, some villagers started the practice of reciting ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ in the memory of the monkey on Muharram day. In 2014, Uday Pratap Singh organised a community at the temple located on the way from where Muharram processions were taken out.

In 2015, tension sparked between the members of two communities on Muharram day. Tension prevailed again in 2016 following which Pratapgarh administration put a restriction on organising the community feast in the village on Muharram day. Uday Pratap Singh also approached the court seeking permission for organising the event but to no avail.

Meanwhile, Muslims of the village were also issued a notice directing them to not try taking out any procession on 10th Muharram on Sunday.