New Delhi: Demands of Supreme Court intervention in Uttar Pradesh’s “encounter Raj [rule]” to allegations of “deliberate attempts being made to create an atmosphere of fear” in the state — opposition parties criticised the law and order situation in UP as news of the killings of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother, Ashraf, while in police custody, broke out Saturday.
The two were shot dead in Prayagraj, allegedly by three men posing as journalists, while being taken for a medical check-up in police custody. Their deaths came a day after one of Ahmed’s sons, Asad, and his alleged aide Ghulam, were shot dead by officers of a special task force of UP police.
Atiq, his brother Ashraf, Atiq’s wife Shaista, three of Atiq’s sons, Ghulam (identified as a shooter) and Guddu Muslim (identified as a bomber), both alleged to part of Atiq’s gang, were among those accused in the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Umesh Pal, who was shot dead in February.
Questioning the alleged failing law and order situation in UP under the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in the state, former Chief Minister and BSP leader Mayawati took to social media Sunday to say, “UP now not ruled by well stablished rule of law, but it has formed encounter state. Supreme Court should take cognisance of this.”
She also said that the killing was “as heinous” as the “murder of Umesh Pal”.
Former Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav too criticised the law and order situation in the state in a tweet, alleging “attempts were being made to deliberately create an atmosphere of fear” in the state.
“Crime has reached its peak in Uttar Pradesh and the morale of the criminals are high. When someone can be killed by firing openly amid the security cordon of police, then what about safety of the general public. An atmosphere of fear is being created among the public and it seems some people are doing it deliberately,” Yadav tweeted Saturday.
Party colleague and member of Parliament (MP) Ram Gopal Yadav alleged “this is deliberately done in presence of police presence”. Referring to Ahmed’s previous petition in court about threat to his life, the MP said “there is no rule of law in UP”.
The manner of Saturday’s killings — while Ahmed and his brother were in police custody — also drew criticism from leaders of other political parties such as the Congress, Trinamool Congress and All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
Speaking to the media after last week’s encounter of Ahmed’s son, Asad, special director general of UP police Prashant Kumar, had said about 183 encounters of alleged criminals had taken place in UP since March 2017, when Yogi Adityanath first took charge as CM.
Opposition leaders have, however, alleged that the CM was using encounters as a tool to satisfy Hindu voters, insinuating that action was being taken only against those from minority communities.
While BJP national spokesperson, Sambit Patra, said in a press conference in Odisha Sunday that a “commission has been formed to investigate” Ahmed and his brothre’s killings and “nothing can be said during investigation”, UP ministers Swatantra Dev Singh and Suresh Kumar Khanna courted controversy by indicating that it was divine justice at play.
While Dev Singh tweeted “Paap aur punya ka hisaab isi janam mein hota hai (the records of sin and virtue are settled in this very life)”, Khanna termed the inident “Asmani faisla (divine justice)”.
‘Death of rule of law’
While Adityanath has ordered a “high-level inquiry” in the killings, police have arrested and identified the men who opened fire on Ahmed and his brother as Arun Maurya of Kasganj, Lavlesh Tiwari of Banda and Mohit alias Sunny of Hamirpur. The three were produced before a Prayagraj court Sunday and remanded to police custody for 14 days.
The killings, while the two were in police custody, however, continued to draw criticism from the BJP’s political opponents.
Loksabha MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said Sunday that “Atiq and his brother were in police custody, they were handcuffed. Jai Shree ram slogans were raised and their killings are perfect example of the failure of UP law and order.”
Owaisi added: “In those societies where killers are heroes, there is no need of system of court and justice. We demand resignation of the chief minister and that the Supreme Court forms a team to investigate this matter. We also demand all police officers present there should be removed from service.”
Congress general secretary and communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh also tweeted Saturday, “HM does not stand for home minister, but really for headline manipulator”. .
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi too took to social media to voice her criticism of the incident.
“Criminals should be given the harshest punishment, but it should be according to the law of the land. Playing with or violating the rule of law and the judicial process for any political purpose is not right for our democracy,” she tweeted.
Gandhi added: “Whoever does this, or gives protection to those who indulge in such an act, should also be held responsible and the law should be strictly enforced on that person.”
TMC MP Mahua Moitra accused the BJP of turning India into a “mafia republic”.
“I will say it here, I will say it abroad, I will say it everywhere because of its truth. Men in custody shot dead in front of a zillion police men and cameras, this is death of the rule of law. I can even believe BJP got the shooting done simply to deflect attention away from Satyapal Malik’s interview repercussions,” said Moitra, referring to the former Jammu and Kashmir Governor’s interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire. Malik was the J&k Governor during the Pulwama terrorist attack of February 2019 and the scrapping of Article 370 in August that year.
On Saturday, Samajwadi party media cell tweeted a list containing the names of several UP politicians and the cases purportedly registered against them. Their list included the names of Kuldeep Singh Sengar, Brijesh Singh, Dhananjay Singh and Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias “Raja Bhaiyya”.
“Are these special to Yogi ji? Actually, they all belong to the same caste as that of Yogi ji. Hence, they are still alive, committing crime, running the gangs, and indulging in murder, rape, loot, dacoity and extortion,” alleged the SP’s media cell.
Opposition parties also blamed CM Adityanath of turning UP into an “encounter state: to satisfy the BJP’s “Hindu constituency”.
A day after Umesh Pal was shot dead in Prayagraj in February, CM Adityanath had told the media, “iss mafia ko mitti mein mila dengae (this mafia will be razed to dust).
With inputs from Ishadrita Lahiri
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)