Opposition parties have demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (File)
Reacting to the death of a 38-year-old employee of a multinational company in police firing in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Saturday that the incident was not an encounter. He said the guilty would not be spared, and a CBI probe would be ordered if required.
Vivek Tiwari, 38, died after he was shot at by a police constable in Lucknow in the early hours of Saturday after he allegedly refused to stop his SUV for checking by the police. The constable and his colleague have been arrested, with a murder case registered against them.
The government has also promised a compensation of Rs 25 lakh and government job for Vivek Tiwari's wife. Mr Tiwari will be cremated today.
Opposition parties have demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after the incident, terming it an example of the dismal law-and-order situation in Uttar Pradesh.
"Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, who is presently in Madhya Pradesh, has termed the killing a result of the prevailing 'jungle raj' and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Yogi," said Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary.
"The language of the Chief Minister, who advocates encounters, has been haughty and this has led to the audacity among the policemen. Governor Ram Naik has also been speaking about improvement in law and order, but it is not actually happening. The chief minister need to take moral responsibility of this and resign," Mr Chaudhary added.
Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Kumar Lallu alleged that the incident exposed the real character of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who had come to power on the promise of ending "goonda raj" and "jungle raj".
"Those, who have the responsibility of checking crime, are flouting human rights for the lure of praise. Since the chief minister is holding the home department, he needs to resign on moral grounds," the Congress leader said.
With inputs from PTI