Priyanka Gandhi raises concern over deteriorating law & order situation in UP

Congress general secretary in-charge of UP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has raised concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh. The state is being ruled by Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

In a series of tweets, Priyanka Gandhi flagged the Muzaffarnagar incident where criminals opened fire at a police party to set notorious gangster Rohit alias Sandu free from police custody, besides other incidents showing that criminals are having a field day in Uttar Pradesh.

Rohit has 22 cases against him and was brought from Mirzapur to Muzzafaranagar under police protection for a court hearing on Tuesday.

A sub-inspector was hit by two bullets in the attack and is critical at a government hospital. The goons fled with Rohit.

Despite Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claiming that law and order situation has improved in last two-and-a-half years, the fact remains that the criminals are calling the shots with impunity while police remains a mute spectator.

In reply to Priyanka Gandhi’s first tweet, where she had raised the issue of poor law and order, the state’s Director General of Police (DGP) claimed that the crime rate had come down in Uttar Pradesh.

However, a number of incidents over the last two days tell a different story than the one propagated by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

To list a few, apart from the Rohit Sandu case, in Sultanpur a Block Development Committee (BDC) member Ashutosh Mishra was shot dead inside Panchayat Bhawan in the presence of police on Tuesday (July 2). Another person was critically injured who has been referred to the trauma centre in King George’s Medical University.

In Lakhimpur Kheri, two brothers Nand Kishore and Arvind were shot dead when they were going to a police station to lodge a complaint over land dispute on Tuesday. No one has been arrested so far.

Again on Tuesday, trigger happy goons opened fire at a property dealer inside the premises of Lucknow’s Charbagh railway station. Three shots were fired at Virendra Kumar, which hit him at his waist and leg. He has been admitted to a hospital in a serious condition.

A suspended stenographer opened fire inside Health Directorate in Lucknow on Tuesday afternoon. The Administrative Officer hid under the table to save his life.

On Sunday night a trader Manoj Bhattacharya was shot dead and Rs 2 lakh was looted from him when he had gone to drop his friend in railway station.

Priyanka Gandhi said whatever the Uttar Pradesh government claims about the law and order situation, the truth cannot be concealed.

“The common man on the streets is afraid of venturing out after dusk. Despite the much-hyped anti-Romeo squad, the girls have stopped going to schools in Bareilly because of harassment by boys. The government may pat its back for carrying out encounters but the fact is these encounters have failed to restore faith of people on police, which is unfortunate,” senior Congress leader Amarnath Agarwal said.