Shahjahanpur (UP) June 27 (PTI) Twenty-four Samajwadi Party leaders, including its district unit president, were booked for allegedly defying social distancing norms while protesting against the fuel price hike, police said on Saturday.

The SP leaders, however, claimed that the administration wants to intimidate them by lodging a case.

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The party leaders had staged a demonstration here on Friday during which they flouted social distancing norms, Superintendent of Police S Anand said.

A case has been lodged against 24 SP leaders, including its district unit president Tanveer Khan, at Sadar Bazar police station, he added.

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When contacted, Khan said SP leaders and workers were staging the protest on fuel price hike and other pressing issues on the directives of party president Akhilesh Yadav.

"The administration is trying to suppress the voice of the Samajwadi Party workers and wants to intimidate them by lodging cases," Khan said, adding that his party has always raised voice against injustice and will not deviate from it at any cost.

Rejecting the charge that social distancing norms were flouted, he said all necessary precautions were taken during the protest.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)