BSP calls police raid at Tiwari’s house vendetta

BSP members staged a walkout on Thursday accusing Yogi Adityanath government of indulging in political vendetta by ordering police raids on the Gorakhpur residence of BSP MLA Vinay Shankar Tiwari.

Tiwari had raised the issue of police raids conducted at his residence on April 22 as a question of propriety in the state assembly.

Minister for parliamentary affairs Suresh Khanna gave detailed account of the incidents that preceded the police action.

Khanna said the law authorized the police to carry out search. He said the police did not misbehave with any resident. The police only conducted search outside the dwelling unit of Tiwari’s residence to know about a person from former minister Hari Shankar Tiwari, who is father of the MLA. The name of the person had figured in investigations in connection with a criminal case, said Khanna. When BSP leader Lalji Verma said the police raid was conducted only to give a bad name to Brahmins, Khanna denied the charge. “A criminal is a criminal and could not be linked to any caste or religion,” he said.

Khanna said many cases had been registered against former minister Hari Shankar Tiwari in about 15 police stations of Gorakhpur. Hari Shankar Tiwari was known for his deeds not only in the state but in other states of the country, he said.

Verma said Khanna had remained part of same ministry that had Hari Shankar Tiwari as a minister in 1997.