NEW DELHI: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Monday demanded President’s rule in Uttar Pradesh after state minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya was booked for the murder of a senior police officer.
Deputy superintendent of police Zia-ul Haq was killed in Balipur village in Pratapgarh district, over 100 km from Lucknow Saturday night, during violence that followed the murder of the village head Nanhe Yadav and his brother.
Emphasising that there has been a complete breakdown of law and order in the state, Mayawati said: “There is jungle raj in Uttar Pradesh. The government will complete a year in office on March 15 and even after a year the state government has not been able to get its act together.”
“If senior police officers are not secure, what can common people expect and how will they be safe?” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
She asked the central government to interfere in the matter.
“About one-and-half months back also I had told the central government about breakdown of law and order machinery in the state. The central government should interfere and President’s rule should be implemented,” she told reporters.
Mayawati demanded stringent punishment for Raja Bhaiya and other people involved in the murder of Zia-ul Haq.
Raja Bhaiya quit on Monday as Uttar Pradesh food and civil supplies minister, a day after he was booked for the murder of Zia-ul Haq.
Meanwhile, UP’s food and civil supplies minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh, who is an accused in the murder of a deputy superintendent of police, on Monday met chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and tendered his resignation. SP chief Mulayam Singh said that Raghuraj Pratap Singh’s resignation has been accepted.
The widow of murdered Kunda deputy superintendent of police Zia Ul Haq on Sunday charged that her husband’s death was a cold-blooded murder at the behest of UP’s food and civil supplies minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh, alias Raja Bhaiya. A case of murder and criminal conspiracy was registered against the minister and four of his associates.(Agencies)