As party president Amit Shah sent national secretary Shrikant Sharma to take stock of the situation after clashes broke out in Mathura during an eviction drive, leaving 24 people dead including an SP and an SHO, the BJP on Friday demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident alleging “a nexus between the State Government and land mafia.”
The party mounted an all- out attack on the SP-led Government in UP saying it was an example of lawlessness prevailing in the State which was witnessing “unprecedented” number of attacks on police by criminals enjoying its “patronage”. BJP said there were 1,044 cases of assault on cops during the SP rule and demanded a CBI probe into the Mathura violence .
Party spokesperson Sambit Partra described the incident at Mathura as "a living example of the image of goondaraj in Uttar Pradesh that the Samajwadi Party has built over the years".
"If the DGP and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav cannot protect police officers, can they be expected to protect common citizensIJ Should not Akhilesh Yadav take moral responsibility for what has happened," Patra told a press conference here.
He also posed five questions to the state Government, wondering if it was possible for the main accused to illegally capture the land in the city without patronage from the ruling party.
Sharma who rushed to Mathura said killing of policemen was "height of anarchy" and alleged that the policemen were ill-prepared to control the mob as "they were under pressure from the administration to go easy as land-grabbers had links" with the ruling party.
Patra also asked as to how cops were allowed to go to the spot without due preparation and intelligence inputs as it has come to light that criminals were heavily armed and had taken position over trees to shoot at cops.
He cited a host of incidents, including in Azamgarh, Tunda, Bareilly and Badaun, where cops were attacked by criminals.
Sharma said the ruling party in the state first had over 280 acres of land captured by these criminals and the main conspirator in the case "has full protection of the Samajwadi Party". He demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident.
"This state Government has become a blot and people will wipe it away during the polls" for the state assembly next year, he said. The BJP national secretary alleged " a deep nexus between the ruling party and the land grabbers".