Following Yogi’s ‘mitti mein mila denge’, UP shooters shot dead
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, March 6: Two assassins of Umesh Pal, witness in the Raju Pal murder case, have been shot dead in police encounters in Uttar Pradesh within days of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath vowing in the state Assembly “mafia ko mitti mein mila denge (Mafia will be reduced to ashes)”.
On Monday, the UP Police in early hours killed Usman Choudhary alias Vijay in Prayagraj. His associate had earlier been shot dead in police encounter. A couple of days ago, the chief minister had visited the cremation ground where the deceased constable Sandeep Nishad had been cremated. Adityanath had put the ashes from the cremation ground on his forehead, sending out loud message in the police circle that he meant business when he had spoken the words “mitti mein mila denge”.
The UP legislator and BJP MLA Shalabh Mani Tripathi joined the celebration chorus on social media, tweeting “kaha tha na mitti mein mila denge …” Several other BJP leaders and MLAs put out similar messages on the social media platforms. The shooters of Umesh Pal have been alleged to have links with jailed don-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed.
Atiq Ahmed and Mukhtar Ansari, another don-turned-politician, had their reigns over Prayagraj and Ghazipur. Both have lorded over the region surrounding Varanasi for decades, and they have allegedly passed on their legacies to the next generation within their family members. Both Ahmed and Ansari made their political fortunes with the rise of the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, bagging Lok Sabha and Assembly tickets almost at will during their heydays.
It was in this backdrop that Adityanath had a verbal spat with the former state chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in the UP Assembly during the Budget session. Yadav had raised the issue of the law and order in the backdrop of the Umesh Pall killing while the chief minister was speaking during the reply to the Governor’s address. The chief minister had reminded Yadav that it was his party which had patronised the mafia in the state. Yadav had shot back, “Who is in power now.” The chief minister had retorted, “mafia ko mitti mein mila denge”.
Atiq Ahmed, an ex-Lok Sabha MP, is a gangster-turned-politician. He was defeated by Raju Pal in an Assembly election. Subsequently, Raju Pal was shot dead, with Atiq Ahmed being the prime accused. Broad daylight killing of Umesh Pal, who is witness in the Raju Pal murder case, had sought to challenge the image of the chief minister that he has tamed the organized gangsters in the state.
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