Opposition parties attack UP government over Kanpur incident

LUCKNOW : Opposition parties in the state launched a sharp attack on the UP government on Friday after the killing of eight police personnel by criminals in Kanpur late on Thursday.

Top leaders of the Samajwadi Party, the Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) praised police personnel for their bravery and called for action against those who killed the policemen.

Akhilesh Yadav, the SP’s national president, called the incident unfortunate as he paid tribute to the eight policemen.

“This is the most shameful incident in UP’s crime world in which the duty-bound police personnel paid the price for the nexus between criminals and people in power. The criminals should be caught alive and the present government must be exposed,” Akhilesh tweeted in Hindi. The SP also demanded Rs 1 crore compensation to each of the families of the policemen.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress’ general secretary and UP in-charge, also tweeted to call for action against the criminals.

“My condolences to the families of the martyred policemen. Law and order situation in UP has turned very bad, criminals are fearless, common people and police are not safe. The chief minister himself holds the charge of the home department. He should take stern action after such a horrific incident,” she stated.

AICC leader Rahul Gandhi, in a tweet in Hindi, said: “Here is another evidence of ‘Gunda Raj’ in UP. When police is unsafe, how would the people feel safe?”

In a press statement, UP Congress Committee (UPCC) president Ajay Kumar Lallu said the Kanpur incident and recent murders in Prayagraj and Ghaziabad reflected the prevailing ‘jungle rule’ in UP. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, in her tweet, called the incident “sad, shameful, and unfortunate.”

“The government must not spare the criminals, at any cost, in such a sensational incident even if it requires a special operation. The BSP demands that the government must pay appropriate ex gratia to the families of the policemen as well as a government job to a member of the family of slain cops,” she said.

HT PHOTOS (Above) Police lathicharging Samajwadi Party workers and leaders after a ‘Shraddhanjali Sabha’ held at Gandhi statue in Hazratganj on Friday turned high pitched. The protesters courted arrest and the police packed them off into buses to the police lines and (right) a condolence meeting organised at UPCC headquarters to pay tribute to the policemen killed in Kanpur incident.