Despite a hue and cry being raised for the arrest of a Union minister’s son in the Kheri incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath came out in support of the minister, saying that without any evidence the police would not arrest anyone just on the basis of allegation.
“You cannot make an arrest just on the basis of allegations. You should have evidence. Until we get that, we are not going to arrest anyone,” Yogi said during his interview to a private news channel.
The chief minister categorically said that so far no evidence had come to the fore against Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni, in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.
The chief minister said that there was also a ruling of the Allahabad High Court that there should be sufficient evidence before arrests were made.
“We will not arrest anyone on mere allegations. Previously, we have arrested high-profile leaders including BJP MLA and opposition leaders. These arrests were made only after proper investigation. In this case too arrests will be made after we have sufficient evidence to arrest a person,” he said.
On the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that this incident was unfortunate.
“The government has ordered a probe into the violence though there is no place of violence in democracy. Whoever it is, the law is the same for all. The law will treat everyone equally,” he said.
Yogi Adityanath said that the law would take its own course. “No work will be done in Uttar Pradesh under anyone's pressure. A SIT, as well as a judicial commission, has been constituted by the government in this case,” he said.
“The arrests of the wanted people have started. There have been many arrests yesterday. Action is going on even today. Fair and strict action will be taken in this entire matter," he said.
The chief minister said that all the allegations by the opposition leaders were baseless.
"We have registered an FIR on the basis of farmers’ application. FIR has also been registered on the complaint of BJP leaders. This government is working in a transparent manner,” the chief minister said.
Hitting out at the opposition leaders who are making a beeline to Kheri, Yogi said that these opposition leaders were not messengers of goodwill.
“These leaders are trying to create a chasm. We won't allow that to happen. The families of the victims themselves said that they are satisfied with the government," he said and added that Congress’ sympathy for farmers was nothing but crocodile tears as Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was unable to handle his state and some farmers in Chhattisgarh were killed by police.
Yogi Adityanath said: “I want to ask Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka, when the country was suffering from coronavirus, why they did not go out and meet people. At that time of crisis, only Central and state governments were with them (people).”