UP cop murder: Mayawati slams Akhilesh Yadav government, says 'goonda raj' prevailing in state

New Delhi: The murder of a senior police officer in Uttar Pradesh, allegedly on the orders of a senior politician of the state's ruling Samajwadi Party (SP), was denounced aggressively in Parliament today, largely by members of the opposition Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).  

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son, Akhilesh, who is chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, have been derided by their political rival, Mayawati, for governing with "goonda raj" or lawlessness, a claim bolstered by the fact that one of their ministers, Raja Bhaiya, has been accused of ordering the policeman's assassination. He resigned yesterday but said he is innocent.

Mayawati, who heads the BSP, said this morning, "He (Mulayam Singh Yadav) can't handle his government in UP, they have dreams of making the government at the Centre."

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has promised the policeman's widow that the murder will be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).    

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Deputy Superintendent of Police Zia-ul-Haque was shot in the head and chest on Saturday night while investigating a village headman's murder, the result of a dispute over land.

His wife, Parveen Azad, has alleged that her husband was killed on the orders of Raja Bhaiya because he ignored warnings to abandon an investigation into a case of communal violence against him. "Everything in Kunda happens because of Raja Bhaiya. All pressures come from him...", she said.

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Raja Bhaiya's inclusion in Mr Yadav's cabinet last year had been a controversial one, especially as the 39-year-old Chief Minister came to power primarily on a promise to rid UP of all its law and order problems.