Akhilesh, Maya demand probe; Dy CM says no one above law

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the ruling BJP in the state of “trying to divert attention from the real issues by doing false encounters”. He also alleged that the BJP does not believe in the courts of the country.

“By doing fake encounters, the BJP government is trying to divert attention from real issues. The BJP does not believe in courts at all. Today’s and other recent encounters should also be thoroughly investigated and the culprits should not be spared. The government does not have the right to decide what is right or wrong,” the former chief minister tweeted in Hindi and accused the ruling BJP of being “against harmony and brotherhood”.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also took a jibe at his successor Yogi Adityanath over his “will reduce mafia to dust” comments made in the Assembly, saying those who mouth such “filmi dialogue” have no faith in the Constitution.

“The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has given maximum notices to the UP government (over police actions like encounters). Maximum number of custodial deaths in the country take place in Uttar Pradesh,” he claimed at Khargone in Madhya Pradesh.

Soon after Akhilesh’s tweet, BSP chief Mayawati also demanded a “high-level inquiry” into the recent encounters in Uttar Pradesh.

Referring to the killing of history-sheeter Vikas Dubey two years ago in an encounter, Mayawati tweeted in Hindi: “Many types of discussions are taking place following the killing of Atiq Ahmed’s son and one more person in a police encounter today. People feel that their apprehension of a repeat of the Vikas Dubey incident has come true. Therefore, a high-level inquiry is necessary so that the complete facts and truth of the incident can come before the public.”

Dubey, a gangster from Kanpur, was killed in 2020 when the police vehicle bringing him from Madhya Pradesh overturned. Officials had said then that he tried to escape by snatching a gun from a policeman and was killed in the crossfire.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi accused the BJP of trying to weaken the rule of law in the country. In a video tweeted by him, the MP from Hyderabad said: “This is not an encounter but the law is being destroyed. You (BJP) are trying to encounter the country’s Constitution. You are trying to weaken the rule of law. Then why are there courts in the country? Why are there CrPC, the Indian Penal Code, the judges, and the prosecutors? Then shut down the courts. What will then the judges do?… This is the court’s work, not yours. Your work is to catch criminals. If someone has murdered, sentence him to 10 years, 14 years in jail…”

Referring to the killing of Nasir and Junaid allegedly by gau rakshaks in BJP-ruled Haryana, Owaisi said: “Will you also encounter those who killed Nasir and Junaid? You will not because you carry out encounters in the name of religion.”

Meanwhile, the BJP defended the encounter, saying the “criminals” are being eliminated in Uttar Pradesh as part of its zero-tolerance policy against the mafia.

Congratulating the Special Task Force for carrying out the encounter, UP Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said: “Crime and criminals are being eliminated from Uttar Pradesh. No one is above the law.”

Alleging that the previous governments had given “mafias” to the state, Pathak claimed that his government has been successful in giving a “fear-free” atmosphere in the state.

Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya also congratulated the UP Police on the action. “Nobody will touch you if you don’t commit a crime. And nobody will be spared if they commit a crime,” Maurya said and asserted this was a BJP government and not an SP regime that criminals would be spared.

(With PTI Inputs)