Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Monday, visited Kairana town in Shamli district to meet members of those families who had migrated from there in the wake of threats from local criminals but returned after assessing the improved law and order situation.
Those who met the chief minister included Vijay Mittal, his wife Aditi and daughter Kanak, who had migrated to Surat in Gujarat after repeatedly being harassed by extortionists but finally decided to return to their home town Kairana in 2019.
Another such family comprised Neetu, wife of late Vinod Singhal, who was murdered by criminals for extortion, and her minor children Aadi and Kanak.
Members of families of two men from Muzaffarnagar who were murdered for extortion also met the chief minister. They were Anu Singhal and Vineet, wife and brother, respectively, of late Shiv Kumar, and Rekha Garg and Harshit, wife and son of late Rajendra Kumar.
The hugely relieved families said that they were grateful to the chief minister and the government officials for restoring their confidence. They also narrated how criminals had rendered their lives miserable in years prior to 2017, before the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in UP.
A local resident told the chief minister that now life had returned to normal in Kairana and people were not frightened to venture out in the evenings.
“Earlier, a curfew-like situation used to prevail because of the terror of criminals, but now it is not so. Had the situation not been brought under control by the present government, nearly 80 to 90 per cent of residents of Kairana would have migrated to other places,” he added.
Another resident said that the elimination of Muqeem Kala had brought a huge relief to the people of Kairana as the slain gangster was responsible for much of the nuisance. People also said that BJP leader and minister Suresh Rana had stood by the people and extended help in those difficult times.
During the previous Samajwadi Party regime, there used to be no force in police stations and police were reluctant to help the people, but now things have changed.
“Now Kairana is getting its importance back and property rates – an index of normal business environment – have started picking up. Now the people have confidence in the administration,” said UP minister Suresh Rana.