'Mitti mein mila denge…’; UP Police walk the Yogi Talk

Spread the love

By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, April 13: On February 24 this year, Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh hit the national headline when Umesh Pal was killed in broad daylight, said the state special DG Prashant Kumar after another two accused Asad and Ghulam were killed in an encounter. With the Thursday encounter, the UP Police so far have eliminated at least four accused who were involved in the killing of Umesh Pal.

“Two of our brave colleagues were also killed along with Umesh Pal,” said Kumar, while briefing the media about the encounter on Thursday. Asad was son of the jailed Atiq Ahmed, who had previously been a Lok Sabha MP. Ghulam, who was also killed on Thursday, was an associate of Asad, the police have said.

The UP Police, meanwhile, have got the remand of Ahmed for interrogation. Ahmed has been convicted in the Raju Pal murder case. Raju Pal had defeated Ahmed in an Assembly byelection, and afterwards Ahmed was alleged to have nursed enmity against him.

With the UP Police managing to kill the accused, who had been carrying cash rewards, in encounters, the state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s words of “mafia jo mitti mein mila denge (mafia will be reduced to smithereens) is proving to be prophetic. Aditynath had a spat with former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav in the state Assembly during the Budget session when the issue of the killing of Umesh Pal was raised in the House.

Afterwards, the chief minister had applied ashes from the cremations of the two constables who were also killed along with Umesh Pal on his forehead. Adityanath is clearly seeking to send out a message that he’s a no nonsense administrator and he would not spare the criminals in the state. This image along with that of ‘bulldozer baba’, which has been copied by his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has made Adityanath a public hero, as his personal brand value now overwhelms the caste divide in the state.

But Yadav continues to challenge the chief minister, alleging that he has no respect for the judicial process. “The BJP has no belief in the judiciary. By staging fake encounters, the BJP is seeking to distract attention from real issues. The encounters should be probed, and the guilty be not spared,” Yadav tweeted.