News Analysis India

Tag: Uttar Pradesh

  • ASHA workers in Uttar Pradesh meet Priyanka Gandhi; raise honorarium, service conditions

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: A delegation of ASHA workers met Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra here on Thursday and apprised her of their problems related to honorarium and service conditions.

    The Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers had tried to meet Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during his recent visit to Shahjahanpur, but they were roughed up by police, a Congress spokesman said.

    “The ASHA workers met Priyanka Gandhi, who arrived in the state capital Thursday morning, and told her about the issues faced by them, including those related to their wages and service conditions,” he said.

    “They also showed Gandhi the injuries sustained by them in Shahjahanpur,” the spokesman said.

    The Congress general secretary had on Wednesday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of “insulting” the work done by ASHA workers, and promised an honorarium of Rs 10,000 per month for ASHA and Anganwadi workers if her party was voted to power in the assembly polls next year.

    Taking to Twitter, she had also shared a purported video of the alleged “assault” by police on the ASHA workers in Shahjahanpur.

    “Every assault on the ASHA sisters by the UP government is an insult to the work done by them. My ASHA sisters have given their services diligently in coronavirus times and on other occasions. Honorarium is their right. It is the duty of the government to listen to them,” Gandhi had tweeted in Hindi.

    “ASHA sisters deserve respect and I am with them in this fight,” she said.

  • Ex-BJP MLA Ram Iqbal Singh says Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath will become ‘sadhu’ if loses election

    By PTI

    BALLIA: BJP state executive member and former MLA Ram Iqbal Singh on Wednesday took a dig at Yogi Adityanath, suggesting that if he is removed from the post of chief minister, he will go back to being a monk.

    “I cannot call ‘tezaab’ (acid) ‘amrit’ (nectar),” he said, apparently referring to the CM who is also the head priest of the Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur.

    “If Yogi Adityanath is removed from the chief minister’s post, he will immediately become angry and become a sadhu,” Singh said in Nagra area.

    He also targeted the Narendra Modi government over the plight of the farmers saying the cost of farming has increased a lot because of inflation.

    Singh praised Suhaldev Bharatiya Samaj Party President Om Prakash Rajbhar, and called him “the sole leader of the Rajbhar community.

    Singh has been critical of the BJP government in the state and has in the past raised questions over its functioning during Covid-19 pandemic.

    He had also accused BJP Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra of running over farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri incident last month.

  • 22-year-old dies in police custody in Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj; Five cops suspended

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: A 22-year-old man called for questioning in a kidnapping case died at Kasganj police station, with his family members alleging that he was killed by police personnel.

    The police, however, claimed that Altaf had strangulated himself using a string of his jacket’s hood in the washroom of the police lock-up and said five policemen have been suspended for negligence in the wake of the incident on Tuesday.

    The opposition Samajwadi Party attacked the Yogi Adityanath government for “yet another custodial death”, saying criminals and police are executing an “encounter” of law and order in the state under the BJP rule.

    SP president Akhilesh Yadav termed the death as suspicious and demanded a judicial probe into the matter.

    Narrating the sequence of events, Kasganj’s Superintendent of Police Rohan Pramod Botre said on Wednesday, “One Altaf (of Nagla Syed locality) was called for questioning in Kasganj police station in a case related to IPC section 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing a woman to compel her marriage) on Tuesday morning.

    “During interrogation, he requested the policemen to let him go to the washroom and was allowed to use the washroom inside the lockup,” the SP said.

    “He was wearing a black jacket. He tried to strangulate himself with a string of the (jacket’s) hood that he tied to the tap of the toilet. When he did not return for some time, the policemen went inside and found him unconscious. He was rushed to the community health centre, Ashok Nagar in Kasganj, where he died,” the SP said.

    The victim’s postmortem is being conducted, he said.

    “The lax policemen will be punished. We have suspended five policemen in this connection,” he said.

    The victim’s kin, however, alleged that he was killed by the policemen.

    SP president Akhilesh Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi, “The death of the youth called for interrogation in the police station is very suspicious. In the name of laxity, suspension of some policemen is a mere eyewash. In this case, a judicial probe should be held to generate confidence on police in BJP regime.”

    He ended his tweet with the hashtag #BJPKHATAM (BJP is finished) Yadav also tagged a portion of a news report which says “bad script is written in UP.

    A man with 5.6 feet height hanged himself with a tap which is above two feet from the ground.

    Earlier, the Samajwadi Party took to Twitter to attack the Yogi Adityanath government, calling the incident another misdeed of UP’s “thoko (trigger-happy) police”.

    “In UP, under the patronage of the chief minister, criminals and police are committing an encounter of law and order. The guilty policemen should face a murder case and must be punished,” Samajwadi Party said in a tweet in Hindi.

    The incident comes close on the heels of a sanitation worker, who was accused of stealing Rs 25 lakh from Jagdishpura police station in Agra, dying in police custody after his health deteriorated during interrogation.

  • Man sentenced to death for killing minor after rape in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr

    By PTI

    BULANDSHAHR: A man was awarded death sentence by a district court on Wednesday for raping and murdering a two-year-old girl.

    The Special POCSO Court Judge also imposed a fine of Rs 1,40,000 upon the man who had hidden the dead body of the victim after committing the act.

    The incident took place last July in Hirnot village of Shikarpur area.

    The girl, belonging to Hirnot village, was abducted by Prem Singh Prajapati on July 10, when she was playing in the neighbourhood.

    According to police, Prajapati raped the minor and hid her body near a pond in the village after killing her.

    Cracking the case within 11 days of the crime, police arrested the convict and filed a charge sheet against him in the court.

  • Security tightened at railway stations in nine Uttar Pradesh districts after bomb threat

    By PTI

    MEERUT: The superintendent of Meerut City Railway Station has received a letter threatening bomb blasts at railway stations and temples in nine districts, including Meerut, ahead of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s visit to the city on November 11.

    Security was tightened at all railway stations although police believed it to be a hoax.

    Railway Police DSP Sudesh Kumar Gupta said the letter was received on Tuesday and a case was registered against unidentified persons under relevant sections at the GRP police station.

    Gupta said prima facie, it seems to be a hoax.

    A similar letter was also received by the Hapur Railway Station superintendent’s office on October 30, following which a thorough checking was conducted in the station premises.

    Station Superintendent RP Singh said the letter threatened bomb blasts at many temples and railway stations in nine districts, including Meerut, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Muzaffarnagar, Aligarh, Khurja, Kanpur, Lucknow and Shahjahanpur.

    In view of the proposed visit of the chief minister to Meerut on Thursday, the police administration has increased vigil, Superintendent of Police (City) Vineet Bhatnagar said.

  • BJP-ally Nishad Party chief stirs row with remark on Lord Ram, apologises later

    By PTI

    FATEHPUR/ PRAYAGRAJ: Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad on Tuesday apologised for a remark on Lord Ram that had triggered a row and also put ally BJP in a spot. In a statement Sunday in Prayagraj, he said Shringi Rishi Nishad and not king Dashrath was the father of Lord Ram, prompting the opposition to demand a reaction from the ruling BJP.

    He said that Lord Ram is a revered by the Nishad community. “If any wrong words have been spoken about him, I apologize to God Shri Ram for it. Lord Shri Ram has done a lot for our community and our community has played an important role in the construction of the Shri Ram temple,” Nishad told reporters in Fatehpur.

    He claimed that the opposition is upset over the alliance between his party and the ruling BJP and his statement was presented in a distorted manner. Lord Ram was born following a yagya performed by Shringi Rishi, according to the scriptures.

    Portions of sweet kheer were distributed among Dashrath’s wives after the ritual. In Prayagraj earlier, Nishad, a Member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council had appeared to mock this. “No child can be born by feeding kheer,” he had said, arguing that the yagya was just for “namesake” and calling the kheer version a “respectful” story.

    He referred to Lord Ram as Dashrath’s “so-called son” and the saint’s “real son”. Asked to comment on the sidelines of the Allahabad University convocation on Monday, BJP’s election in-charge for the state and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was dismissive. “Sanjay Nishad has said a lot of things to me as well. His party is part of the NDA and he is our good ally, and we will fight the elections together,” he said.

    BJP state vice president Vijay Bahadur Pathak said he was not aware of Nishad’s remark. However, the opposition sought to corner the BJP on the issue. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi demanded a clarification from RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Nishad’s statement and said BJP leaders should give an explanation.

    Samajwadi Party spokesperson Ashutosh Verma said if Nishad can talk in this manner after joining hands with the BJP, then the ruling party should be asked about its stand on it. He said that Nishad started talking about “Ram-Rahim” as soon as he came together with the BJP. “Inflation, unemployment and development are our main issues. I think Nishad ji should talk on serious issues now that he has become an MLC,” he said.

    Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Lalan Kumar accused Nishad of losing his “mental balance” after allying with the BJP, and demanded an “unconditional apology” from him. He said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath sometimes “insults” Mother Sita and or calls Lord Hanuman a Dalit, and Nishad too has become a victim of “mental bankruptcy”.

    He accused the BJP and its allies of trying to change “religious history and facts”. “The devout will not remain silent on this. The BJP, which is doing politics on Lord Ram and the temple, should clarify its stand on Nishad’s statement,” the Congress leader added.

  • Uttar Pradesh polls: CM Adityanath visits Kairana, promises relief to families forced to ‘leave’ town

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Ahead of next year’s Assembly polls, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday visited Kairana in Shamil district on Monday, promising compensation to some families who were allegedly forced to leave town between 2014 and 2016.

    The BJP had claimed then that scores of Hindu families had left the western UP town after receiving threats from criminals.

    The claim, however, was contested by others.

    The alleged exodus from Kairana was a big issue in the 2017 Assembly elections.

    “I have sought a report from the district administration about the families which were harmed and their members killed here in the previous Samajwadi Party regime,” Adityanath said in Kairana, adding that action has been initiated against the guilty.

    “The government will give some compensation to the victim families so that they could again carry out their business and economic activities,” Adityanath told reporters after meeting some families who had migrated from the town between 2014 and 2016, allegedly after received extortion threats.

    “I met the families and had a lunch with them,” said the CM, who was accompanied by state BJP president Swatantra Dev Singh and minister Suresh Rana.

    He said Kairana was once considered a major industrial town of the country and a centre of classical music.

    “Towns like Kairana and Kandhla faced repercussions of the criminalisation of politics in the early 1990s and the politicisation of professional criminals. Hindu businessmen and other Hindus were forced to migrate from here on a large scale,” he alleged.

    After 2017, due to our government’s policy of zero tolerance towards crime and criminals, many families have returned, he claimed.

    Adityanath said when he came to the town in 2017, people had demanded the strengthening of the police outpost and a PAC battalion.

    “The work of strengthening the outpost has already been done and today I came here for laying the foundation of a PAC battalion camp,” he added.

    Adityanath also claimed that the town is not known for criminal activities now as the process for rapid development has started.

    “A bypass road is being built to avoid traffic jam. Industrialisation has started here and locals are getting jobs,” the CM said, adding that everyone will benefit by government schemes that are not aimed at “appeasement”.

    When asked if his visit is due to the upcoming elections, Adityanath said, “There is no election at present. It’s my duty to meet every victim and if the victim is a Hindu, it is not a crime to meet him.”

    Replying to another question, he said the “exodus is also an issue.”

    In 2016, the then BJP MP Hukum Singh had claimed that close to 350 Hindus had left Kairana due to threats by criminals.

  • Customer runs away with ornaments worth Rs 75 lakh from jewellery shop in Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI

    MUZAFFARNAGAR: A customer ran away with a box of ornaments from a jewellery shop here, police said Sunday.

    The incident took place on Saturday at Bhagat Singh market that falls under Kotwali police station area, they said.

    A person went to Ramkumar Jewellers and fled with a box carrying ornaments worth Rs 75 lakh, they said.

    Police are searching for the accused on the bases of CCTV footage Circle Officer Kuldeep Singh said.

  • ‘Taking BSP leaders in its party will only weaken SP’, says Mayawati

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Supremo Mayawati on Sunday said taking BSP “turncoats” into its fold will not help the Samajwadi Party (SP) increase its mass base and will only weaken it.

    Mayawati’s statement came barely hours after SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav inducted Lalji Verma and Ramachal Rajbhar in his party at his ‘Janadesh Maharally’ in Ambedkarnagar district on Sunday.

    The two leaders were earlier expelled by the BSP for “anti-party” activities.

    In a series of Hindi tweets, Mayawati said their inclusion in SP is only going to weaken the SP and disaffect its party workers.

    “The SP should know that by taking such selfish party-hoppers, the ticket-seekers, within its fold is only going to make its workers angry, many of whom are in touch with the BSP.

    “These people are going to inflict severe damage to the party from inside during the polls,” she said.

    She also offered a word of advice to her own party workers and said they must refrain from getting tickets to the disaffected members from other parties and prefer only their fellow party workers.

    In 2017 UP Assembly elections, Lalji Verma had won from Katehari seat, while Ramachal Rajbhar had won from Akbarpur Assembly constituency.

    Before expulsion from the party, Verma was the leader of BSP legislature party in state assembly, and Rajbhar was the state BSP chief.

  • Uttar Pradesh ATS makes one more arrest in religious conversion case

    By PTI

    NOIDA: The Anti Terrorist Squad of the Uttar Pradesh police on Sunday said it has arrested one more accused in connection with the illegal religious conversion case, taking the number of arrests in the matter to 16.

    The latest arrest is that of a Delhi-based man, who was held from Noida on Saturday, after it was found that he was in contact with others involved in the conversion syndicate, the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) said.

    “Accused Abdullah Umar Gautam, who lived in Jamia Nagar area of Delhi, was constantly in touch with the people who have been arrested in the past in connection with the conversion case. He would distribute the funds received from foreign countries among the converted people,” the ATS said in a statement.

    “He was connected to other accused, including Jahangir Alam, Kausar Alam, Faraz Shah, and looked after the work of Al-Farukhi Madrasa and Mosque and running of the Islamic Dawah Centre in Delhi, both of which were managed by his father cleric Umar Gautam,” the agency said.

    So far, 16 people, including key accused clerics Umar Gautam, Kaleem Siddiqui, have been arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police in connection with the case lodged at the ATS Police Station in Lucknow, officials said.

    Around half a dozen accused are from Maharashtra network of the syndicate, they added.

    According to the ATS, bank account details of Abdullah Umar Gautam showed receipt of money from the same foreign sources as did the accounts of his father Umar Gautam.

    “An amount of Rs 75 lakh was credited to Abdullah’s accounts from various sources so far, of which Rs 17 lakh came from foreign locations. This fund was used by him, his father and other associates to distribute among converted people,” the ATS said.

    The illegal religious conversion syndicate being probed by the UP police has links in multiple states, including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, the officials said.

    Funding for the syndicate has been received from foreign locations, including the US, the UK and Gulf countries through hawala and other illegal channels, the officials added.