Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Thursday questioned the functioning of the Uttar Pradesh Police after over the encounter of Assad and Ghulam, accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, in a police encounter in Jhansi.
BSP supremo Mayawati compared the killing of Asad and Ghulam in an encounter with the Vikas Dubey incident in Kanpur two years ago and demanded a high-level probe into the matter, whereas SP president Akhilesh Yadav called it a false encounter and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is against brotherhood.
Mayawati tweeted "Heated discussions are being held on the killing of the son of Atique Ahmed of Prayagraj and another person in a police encounter today. People feel that their apprehension of a repeat of the Vikas Dubey incident has come true. Therefore, a high-level investigation is necessary so that the entire facts and truth of the incident could be revealed to the public."
Akhilesh tweeted, "The BJP government is trying to divert attention from the real issues through fake encounters. The BJP does not believe in the court at all. Today's and recent encounters should also be thoroughly investigated and the culprits should not be spared. Power does not have the right to decide what is right or wrong. BJP is against brotherhood."
On the other hand, Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Keshav Prasad Maurya praised the STF and said that this was the fate of the killers of Umesh Pal and the police personnel.
"Congratulations to UP STF, the same fate was to befall the killers of Shri Umesh Pal Advocate and police personnel." he tweeted.
It may be noted that Assad, son of mafia-turned-politician Atique Ahmed, and his fellow shooter Ghulam, both accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, were killed in an encounter with the Special Task Force (STF) in Bada Gaon area of Jhansi on Thursday afternoon.
Umesh Pal, the main witness in Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal murder case, was killed on February 24 last in Dhoomanganj area in Prayagraj while he was alighting from a car outside his house. Two of his security personnel were also martyred in this incident. (UNI)
