"Jungle Raj In UP": Sitaram Yechury On Gangster Atiq Ahmed's Killing

Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Sunday reacted sharply over the mafia turned politician Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf Ahmed who were shot dead in Prayagraj, and said that jungle raj is going on in Uttar Pradesh under the UP Chief Minister's Yogi Adityanath BJP led government.

Sitaram Yechury took to Twitter and said, "Jungle Raj under BJP Yogi govt in UP. It's USP: Encounter killings, Bulldozer politics and patronising criminals. Enforce rule of law; apprehend perpetrators and punish them stringently".

Days after Atiq Ahmed's son Asad was killed in an encounter in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi, the mafia-turned-politician and his brother Ashraf Ahmed were killed on Saturday while being taken for a medical in Prayagraj.

Atiq Ahmed was accused in the 2005 BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case and also in the Umesh Pal murder case which happened in February this year.

In this regard, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday said that this incident is a perfect example of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's big failure in law and order in Uttar Pradesh.

In the aftermath of the killings of Gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed, Asaduddin Owaisi took to Twitter and said, "Atiq and his brother were killed while in police custody and were handcuffed. Slogans of JSR were also raised. Their murder is a perfect example of Yogi's big failure of law and order. Those celebrating encounter-raj are equally responsible for this murder".

After this incident, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav also mentioned that crime has reached its peak in Uttar Pradesh.

"Crime has reached its peak in UP and the morale of the criminals is high. When someone can be killed openly despite being surrounded by a security cordon, one can imagine the state of the general public. Due to this (alleged encounter killings), an ambience of fear is being created among the public. It seems that some people are deliberately creating such an ambience," Akhilesh Yadav tweeted.

Uttar Pradesh Police has so arrested a total of 3 shooters in the incident.

In this regard, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also chaired a high-level meeting and directed state police officers to maintain law and order and situation in the state.

He also appealed to the public to avoid paying attention to rumours about this incident.

"CM has also appealed to people not to pay any attention to rumours. Strict action will be taken against those who spread rumours," the official statement mentioned.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)