Rahul rides through UP; state in the dark,and angry

On several occasions,the UP police received reports about Rahul having been sighted at some place — only to find him gone by the time they reached the spot. The police finally caught up with him at 8.30 this morning — and found him taking a walk in the fields at Tilhar village in Shrawasti district,close to India’s border with Nepal.

The journey began at 3.30 pm yesterday,immediately after Rahul landed in Lucknow’s Amausi airport on Kingfisher Airlines flight IT-240. Escorted by his SPG securitymen,the young Congress leader drove away,leaving no tracks for the UP police to follow.

Around 6 pm,the police got the report that Rahul had been seen in Haidergarh in Barabanki district,eating jalebis at a wayside sweet shop. Then began a chase across Barabanki,Bahraich,Faizabad,Shrawasti and Sultanpur — with Rahul remaining constantly out of their reach.

“When he left from the airport,we expected him to go to his Munshiganj guesthouse in Amethi,” said a top source in the UP police. “But around 6 pm,we heard that he had been seen in the Ramnagar area of Barabanki.

“This was the beginning of some very anxious hours for us. We got to know of his whereabouts purely by accident. And by the time we got the report,his cavalcade had already left for an undisclosed location.”

At this point,the district police forces of Bahraich,Shrawasti,Gonda and Faizabad were all instructed to look out for Rahul. “We guessed he might take the Gonda-Faizabad route to reach Amethi,” said the officer. But Rahul seemed to have other ideas — he moved in a different direction,towards Shrawasti.

“The first information about his presence in Shrawasti came to us in the form of a rumour,which sounded suspect,” a source in the Shrawasti district police said.

“We activated our informers in several villages. It was in the wee hours that we got an unconfirmed report about his presence in a village near Bhinga,the headquarters of Shrawasti district.”

According to this source,the police,however,decided to stay away — it was late in the night,and could have led to “misunderstanding”,he said.

In any case,Rahul was not in Bhinga.

He was in Chutkaideh village in the district’s backward Sirsiya block,spending the night at the home of Chhedi Pasi,the Dalit gram pradhan of the village.

Early this morning,Rahul visited Tilhar village near Rampur Devgan — which is where the police finally found him. “Rahul was then taking a walk in the paddy fields,” said a source in the Shrawasti police.

Shrawasti SP Subhash Dubey declined to share how his men finally located Rahul. “I will send a report to the DGP Headquarters regarding this,” he told The Indian Express over the phone.

Even after they had found him,the UP police could not take over Rahul’s escort duties. “The SPG continued to suggest that we leave them alone,” said a senior officer.

Rahul finally left Tilhar around 12.30 pm. “Right now he is crossing the Kaiserganj area of Bahraich,” an officer in the DGP’s office told The Express around 2 pm. The UP police finally heaved a sigh of relief after Rahul entered the boundaries of Lucknow,on his way to the airport.

At the regular media briefing in the home department,Secretary (Home) Mahesh Gupta expressed the state’s frustration.

“The state government will write a letter to the Union government regarding his yesterday’s visit. Although he is SPG protectee,there was no official information given to us about his tour in the state. Being an SPG protectee,he is important for the state government,” Gupta said.

He did not,however,elaborate why the state believed Rahul had violated security rules.

In Delhi,Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said “the issue is being raised because of the political insecurity of that leader”,in an apparent reference to Mayawati.

“No leader of any political party can be expected to consult or inform the leader of any other political party about their movements,agenda or programme. As far as security is concerned,SPG is informed well in advance about such visits and then it becomes the state government’s responsibility to take the other required steps,” Natarajan said.

(With ENS,New Delhi)