Apparently rattled by alleged rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl in Nainital district, the Opposition raised a ruckus after the Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal refused to allow a debate on the deteriorating law and order situation of the State on the last day of the Winter Session of Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha on Thursday.
Incensed, the Opposition trooped into the well of the House and tossed papers over the chair. However, the Speaker held his ground.
Mounting a scathing attack on the State Government, the leader of Opposition Ajay Bhatt said that the State’s law and order situation has crumbled. “The child went missing since November 20 and later, her body was recovered within the 500 meter from the spot from where she went missing on November 25.
“In another instance, mining mafias fired shots at the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Roorkee of Haridwar because he had challenged them. A person was murdered in Rudrapur on November 26. Another was killed in Bajpur despite their family having lodged a complaint, saying that they were apprehensive that he might be murdered, but police did not act on time.“The 2013 Pherupur rape case is yet to be solved. The State is grappling with such blood-curdling incidents, so we demanded a debate on the crumbling law and order”, Bhatt said.
Even in course of the SAARC meeting held in Nepal, the Prime Minister Dr Narendra Modi was shown a placard with “we want justice” written on it. This was in reference to the death of a student of Sherwood College, Nainital, Shyam Prajapati. The deceased was from Nepal. His parents were convinced there was a foul play involved in it.
Police have not yet acted on it the way they should have. The lackadaisical approach has led the relatives to approach the Nepal Government.“The country was embarrassed. However, the Speaker looked unfazed. He let the treasury bench to go with its normal business while stonewalling our appeal for a detailed debate on the horrid state of things”, the BJP leader said.
Bhatt further said that the Speaker had adopted the same insensitive posture regarding the 2013 Ferupur rape-cum-murder case. Such insensitivity is what is giving the hardened criminals boost to go with their predatory designs. They know that Uttarakhand police are soft and lenient. They would do nothing to crush them.
He further alleged that the police are busy in milking the mafia for money. This is what is prodding them to fire shots at a police officer who has the spunk to challenge them.Chief minister Harish Rawat, who reached the house before the Speaker, announced that the deceased girl’s family has demanded a school be named after her name and a plaque be erected where she would be buried. The Government has accepted both these demands, he said.