BREAKING: Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Stopped at Ghazipur Border on Way to Violence-Hit Sambhal

New Delhi: Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were stopped at the Ghazipur border on Wednesday due to prohibitory orders in Sambhal, preventing them from visiting the violence-affected area, PTI reported. 

The senior Congress leader reached the Ghazipur border in the morning where the police deployed heavy forces and barricades to stop them from entering Sambhal.

Following this, a massive traffic jam was witnessed on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway at the Ghazipur border as Congress workers gathered there defying heavy barricading. 

 On Tuesday, Sambhal District Magistrate Rajendra Pensia wrote a letter to the police commissioners of Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad and the superintendents of police of Amroha and Bulandshahr districts, urging them to stop Rahul Gandhi at the borders of their respective districts.

This comes as curbs under Section 163 (power to issue an order in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), has been extended till December 31 in Sambhal. 

"We will not permit Rahul Gandhi to Sambhal as prohibitory orders have been issued by the administration there. Police will stop Gandhi at UP gate," Ghaziabad Police Commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra told PTI.

He added that ample of force has been deployed at the spot to carry out the orders. 

Tensions were triggered in Sambhal on November 19 after the survey team at Shahi Jama Masjid arrived at the site. However, the situation escalated during a second survey on November 24 as protesters gathered near the mosque and clashed with security personnel. Four people were killed in the violence and many more were injured.

(Inputs from PTI)