A first information report (FIR) was filed against Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra under the pandemic law and Section 144 over Thursday’s march towards Hathras.

The Congress leaders were going to visit the family member of the Dalit woman who was gangraped in Hathras when they were detained by Uttar Pradesh Police. A fortnight after her rape, the 19-year-old victim died in a Delhi hospital on Tuesday.

The Gandhis were detained as they were walking to their destination after their vehicles were stopped at Yamuna Expressway, citing imposition of Section 144.

An FIR for violation of criminal procedure code (CrPC) 144 (the section imposed for not allowing the gathering of more than four people) as well as the violation of pandemic act was lodged against Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and unknown protestors, Gautambuddhanagar Commissioner of Police Alok Singh said.

The Gandhi siblings were taken away in a police jeep on Thursday evening and kept in a guest house for sometime. Then, they were released and escorted back to Delhi by the UP police.

The Congress had claimed that the leaders were arrested by the police. “Shri Rahul Gandhi, Smt Priyanka Gandhi and senior Congress leaders have been arrested by the UP police,” the party said on Twitter.