Attacks on cops: IPS association seeks meeting with UP CM Yogi Adityanath
The officers plan to apprise the CM about incidents in Saharanpur, Agra and other places where mobs of Hindu hardliners and local BJP leaders targeted police officers.
The IPS association in Uttar Pradesh (UP) has sought a meeting with chief minister Yogi Adityanath to raise the issue of recent attacks on cops by Hindu outfits, including by BJP leaders in some cases.
“He (Adityanath) was away for Niti Aayog meeting in Delhi, but is back now. As soon as he is free, we intend to meet him soon,” Prakash D, secretary of the IPS Association, told HT.
The officers plan to apprise the CM about incidents in Saharanpur, Agra and other places where mobs of Hindu hardliners and local BJP leaders targeted police officers.
Adityanath has at different meetings told the officers to act tough against those trying to disrupt law and order.
“The CM was apprised about the vandalism at Saharanpur SSP’s residence by BJP supporters led by MP Raghav Lakhanpal Sharma on Thursday. Once the CM ordered action, FIR was registered against the MP, two BJP MLAs as well as local leaders,” a senior police officer said.
Police also registered a case against those who pelted stones at the procession to mark birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar in the district, he said.
Police officers were also directed to take action against the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader who slapped a deputy superintendent of police in Agra while organising a demonstration near Taj Mahal on Saturday.
Officers were told to register a case against the Bajrang Dal activists who attacked a policeman at Fatehpur Sikri police station and set his motorcycle afire.
BJP workers were booked following a clash with SP workers in Nath Nagar area of Sant Kabir Nagar district on Friday.
A home department official said the CM had directed action against all those who indulged in violence, “irrespective of their party affiliation”.
The state police have come under attack for taking action against activists of various hardline Hindu outfits, including BJP, who have been indulging in vigilantism against minority communities, particularly in the name of gau raksha (cow protection), ever since BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh and Adityanath, considered a Hindu hardliner, took charge as chief minister.
Newly-appointed DGP Sulkhan Singh promised not to spare such vigilantes, saying, “I have the backing of the CM.”
Stay in line: Adityanath tells workers
Adityanath has also pulled up party workers and cadre of Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV), which he founded and heads, not to indulge in violence and hit the streets to register a protest. Instead, he told them to focus on implementation of government’s schemes and projects.
The HYV has decided to conduct proper scrutiny before inducting a person into the outfit.