The Asian Age

UP MLA willing to pay 10L extortion

- AMITA VERMA

Lucknow: BJP MLA Shyam Prakash, who is among those who have received extortion threats by a Bahrainbas­ed don, has said that he was making arrangemen­ts to pay 10 lakh demanded by the don because he had no faith in the Yogi Adityanath government.

BJP MLA Shyam Prakash, who is among those who have received extortion threats by one Ali Budesh Bhai, a Bahrain- based don, is now up in arms against his own government.

Mr Prakash, the MLA from Gopamau in Hardoi district, has said that he was making arrangemen­ts to pay the ` 10- lakh amount demanded by the don because he had no faith in the Yogi Adityanath government.

“After we received the threat, my family is living under the shadow of fear and the police have not provided any additional security. In fact, when I called up SP Vipin Kumar, he misbehaved with me. Thousands of letters written by legislator­s are gathering dust in the chief minister’s office so how can I expect action on my letter for security?” he

Shyam Prakash, the BJP MLA from Gopamau in Hardoi district, said that in UP, gods and goddesses and great men were being honoured, but there was no concern for MLAs and their families

asked. The SP Hardoi, however, denied the charges and said that after the MLA received the threat and informed the police, a case has been registered and the accused was being tracked through surveillan­ce.

Meanwhile, the MLA on Friday happily posed for photograph­s with scores of his supporters flashing guns.

“What to do if the police do not give me security? My people are working for my security. As soon as I collect ` 10 lakh, I will send it to the SP so that he can hand it over to the extortioni­st,” the legislator said.

He added that in Uttar Pradesh, gods and goddesses and great men were being honoured, but there was no concern for legislator­s and their families.

The Yogi government has already asked the STF and ATS to track down those responsibl­e for these extortion threat that have been given to over a dozen BJP MLAs in UP through WhatsApp messages and video calls.

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