UP Eviction Drive Deaths: Yogi Adityanath Orders Magisterial Probe

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today ordered a magisterial inquiry into the death of a mother-daughter duo in Kanpur Dehat during an anti-encroachment drive.

It will be in addition to the probe by a Special Investigation Team which is already on, he said, adding the truth of the incident will come before the people in a transparent manner.

"The Kanpur incident is tragic. An SIT team is already looking into it. I have also ordered a magisterial probe into it," the chief minister tweeted.

The chief minister also shared a video clip of his interaction with a private TV channel.

Replying to a question on the Monday evening incident in Kanpur Dehat district, Adityanath said, "The matter is sensitive and the truth of the incident will come before people in a transparent manner." He said everybody should wait for the inquiry reports.

Pramila Dixit (45) and her daughter Neha (20) died after they allegedly set themselves afire in a hut in the presence of police, district administration and revenue officials, who had gone to Madauli village in the Rura area of the district to remove encroachments from a "gram samaj" land, police had said.

While opposition parties alleged that the BJP government's "arrogance of power" and "insensitivity" were responsible for the incident, Uttar Pradesh's minister of state for women's welfare Pratibha Shukla, who met the bereaved family on Tuesday, blamed the district officials.

Ms Shukla said she was asked by the chief minister to visit the village and apprise him of the facts.

The Samajwadi Party on Wednesday said it would raise the incident in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly's Budget Session - scheduled to start on Monday - to get justice for the victims.

BSP chief Mayawati said, "The 'bulldozer politics' of the BJP government is taking the lives of innocent poor people which is very tragic. The government should change its anti-people approach." Police have booked 39 people, including a sub-divisional magistrate, four revenue officials, a police station head and several other cops, on murder and other charges in the incident.

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