Durga Shakti Nagpal issue: UP govt bringing communal angle in suspension of officer,says BJP

“Religion is being brought into this issue by Samajwadi Party. The main issue here is that the sand mafia was punished by her,” BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi told reporters.

Lekhi maintained Durga Shakti had to face the wrath of the Akhilesh Yadav government as she had seized more than 24 dump trucks and arrested several leaders of illegal sand-mining gangs. She had also impounded 297 vehicles and collected a fine of over Rs 80 lakh.

BJP claimed the wall of the “illegal mosque” was demolished by the IAS officer after she got orders from above.

“The illegal dredging by the sand mining gangs of Gautam Budh Nagar on the banks of the rivers Yamuna and Hindon had affected the entire district adversely and were causing ecological disasters like water pollution and contamination,apart from destruction of marine environment and organisms,” Lekhi said.

The party alleged the law and order situation in UP had become very bad under SP rule and Durga Shakti’s suspension was a “new low”.

“By her suspension,SP is achieving two targets. One of demoralising the administrative staff of the country by driving home the message that righteousness and honesty will be punished. The other target is the political drama on ‘secularism’ by inflaming religious anger on the ‘so-called’ demolition of a mosque wall for votebank politics,” Lekhi said.

BJP alleged 27 communal riots have taken place since SP came to power but no officer has been suspended. The party charged SP ministers are openly making communally coloured statements.