Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the police encounter of a man involved in a robbery in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi Saturday said touching the Constitution to the forehead in front of the cameras is just pretence “when your governments are openly violating it”. Gandhi said that all suspicious encounters in UP should be investigated impartially. Mangesh Yadav, allegedly involved in a `1.5 crore robbery at a jewellery store in Sultanpur, was killed in an encounter with the police early Thursday, officials said. Yadav was carrying a reward of `1 lakh on his arrest. According to police, Yadav was killed in the encounter with the Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh Police in Mishirpur Puraini village. In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi alleged that in BJP-ruled states, the very people who are responsible for implementing the law and Constitution are violating them. भाजपा शासित राज्यों में ‘कानून और संविधान’ की धज्जियां वही उड़ा रहे हैं, जिनपर उनका पालन कराने की ज़िम्मेदारी है। सुल्तानपर में हुए मंगेश यादव के एनकाउंटर ने एक बार फिर साबित कर दिया है कि भाजपा ‘Rule Of Law’ पर विश्वास ही नहीं करती। मंगेश के परिवार के आंसू पूरे देश से सवाल… — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 7, 2024 The encounter of Mangesh Yadav in Sultanpur has once again proved that the BJP does not believe in the rule of law, he said. "A professional force like the STF is being run like a 'criminal gang' under the BJP government and the silence of the Central government on this is their clear consent to this 'Thoko Niti'," Gandhi said. Dozens of encounters of the UP STF are under question, he said. "Has any action been taken against any of those officers till date? Who is protecting them and why?" he asked. "Touching the Constitution to the forehead in front of the cameras is just a pretense when your governments are openly violating it," Gandhi said, adding that “blood stains on the uniform must be cleaned”.
