LUCKNOW: The Congress alleged on Saturday that the Uttar Pradesh government was trying to protect the accused in the Sonbhadra clash and instead of ensuring justice, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was targeting party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was detained on her way to meet the victims. Questioning the reason behind Priyanka’s detention at a guesthouse in Mirzapur district in Uttar Pradesh, Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the chief minister and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were afraid of her, adding, “The reign of Ajay Bisht (Adityanath) continues to be the most insensitive in memory.
“Adityanath has made Uttar Pradesh ‘Apradh Pradesh’. The timeline of different incidents clearly shows that the BJP-led UP government is trying to protect the accused in the Sonbhadra clash,” he said.
Continuing with the wave of protests over Priyanka’s detention, the Himachal Pradesh unit of the Congress on Saturday burnt an effigy of Adityanath.
Congress workers led by its state president Kuldeep Singh Rathore gathered near its office, Rajiv Bhawan, here and burnt the effigy. Rathore termed the detention as “illegal and a murder of democracy”.The CPI(M), too, condemned the killings of the tribals on Saturday, accusing the Yogi-led BJP dispensarion of “protecting” the land mafia.
However, the BJP hit out at Priyanka, accusing her of staging a drama over the killing of tribals. Newly-appointed UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh said the UP government worked swiftly and almost all the accused were arrested. “Action is being taken against all those guilty and officials have been suspended for laxity. This incident is a result of the misdeeds (kukarm) of the Congress, whenever it was in power. They indulged in corruption,” he said.
kin of main accused held
A relative of the main accused in the Sonbhadra clash was arrested from Varanasi, a senior police official said on Saturday. Ten people were gunned down and 28 injured in the clash between supporters of Ubbah village headman Yagya Dutt and Gond tribals over a piece of land in Sonbhadra district’s Ghorawal area on Wednesday. Komal, a station superintendent in Bhadohi and a relative of Dutt was arrested Friday evening from Varanasi, Superintendent of Police (SP) Salman Taj Patil said on Saturday. On Friday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said 29 people, including Dutt, have been arrested and a sub-divisional magistrate and four policemen suspended.