New Delhi: A court in Lucknow on Saturday granted bail to social activist Sadaf Jafar and former IPS officer S.R. Darapuri, besides 13 others arrested in connection with anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in the city.
The court of Additional Sessions Judge S.S. Pandey asked the accused to furnish two bail bonds of Rs 50,000 each and personal bonds of an equal amount.
Congress leaders had alleged that Jafar, who is a member of the party, was tortured in prison. The UP Police had denied assault and said they have “enough proof” against her.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was among those who had demanded the immediate release of Jafar, who was arrested on December 19. Filmmakers Mira Nair, Hansal Mehta and Gully Boy star Vijay Varma had also demanded her release. Jafar is part of Nair’s upcoming BBC series A Suitable Boy.
On Thursday, the Allahabad high court asked the state government to respond to a petition asking for the FIR against Jafar to be quashed. She charged levelled against her include rioting, attempted murder and assault on public servants.
Jafar was livestreaming the protest in Lucknow, and so managed to record her own arrest. The video shows her looking at the protest site, in between police officers.
Jafar, Darapuri and others were reportedly protesting peacefully when the police picked them up.
Darapuri is 76 years old and a cancer patient. He was placed under house arrest on December 18 before being taken to the police station on December 19. In a Facebook post, Darapuri’s grandson wrote that his grandfather had never stopped fighting against injustice. “He was smiling behind the bars, he was smiling when the police took him away,” Siddharth Darapuri said.