Seems govt has given free hand to people to kill anyone: Akhilesh on courtroom murder

Leader of Opposition and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday hit out at the BJP government over the murder of jailed gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s close aide, Sanjeev Maheshwari, inside a Lucknow courtroom, saying “maybe the government has given a free hand to people to kill”.

Stating that the law-and-order situation in the state has deteriorated, the SP chief said, “People are being killed in police custody, when they are with police security, in courtrooms, and in police stations. Maybe the government has given a free hand to go and kill anyone. This is democracy and the rule of law. The question is not who is dying, but where are they dying — in places which are supposed to be most secure.”

“In the history of UP, so many people have never come to the CM residence to get FIRs lodged and have to consume poison to get that done. Is this law and order?” Akhilesh said.

Women are most unsafe in the state, and every day, news of rape and murder of women appear in the media, he added.

Citing the law and order, Akhilesh also slammed the government for appointing an acting DGP in the state. “If you see the law-and-order situation, then we will have to see why officiating DGPs are appointed… There have been three officiating DGPs. What does this mean? Are the BJP’s Delhi and Lucknow engines colliding,” Akhilesh said, alluding to the BJP’s double-engine government.