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'Even Ghulam's mother…': BJP says Owaisi and Akhilesh equate Muslims with…
Akhilesh called the encounter fake with an eye on election while Owaisi said it was an encounter in the name of religion.
Citing Ghulam's mother's approval of the encounter of her son along with Asad Ahmad, the son of gangster-turned-political Atiq Ahmad, the BJP on Friday said only leaders like Asauddin Owaisi and Akhilesh Yadav have problems with the encounter. "It is unfortunate that they associate Muslims with crime and terror," BJP's Amit Malviya said. Ghulam's mother on Friday refused to accept his body and said the action of the UP Police's special task force in gunning down both Ghulam and Ahmad was absolutely correct. Read | Gangster Atiq Ahmad is 'Ji' for Congress like ‘Osama’: BJP's barb
"All gangsters and criminals will take a lesson from this. I had no idea that my son used to work for gangster Atiq Ahmad. I will not receive his body, maybe his wife will receive it," Ghulam's mother said. "Ghulam's mother is saying that whatever happened to her son is right and it will send a message to the criminals," Malviya said.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said the encounter was in the name of religion, while Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav called it a fake encounter triggering an intense political row over it.
"The law and order is a state subject for sure, but tell us that Junaid and Nasir were not killed under the BJP government in Haryana? Whose government is there? Are houses not demolished using bulldozers? Will the BJP also shoot those who killed Junaid and Nasir? No, because you (BJP) do encounters in the name of religion. You want to encounter the Constitution. If you want to weaken the rule of law, what are the courts for? What are CRPC, IPC, and Judges for? If you decide that you will give justice with a bullet then shut the courts. What work will the judges do?" Owaisi said.
Akhilesh said the fake encounter perpetrated by the BJP government was to divert attention from real issues.
Asad and Ghulam were killed in an encounter in Jhansi on Thursday after the police received intelligence inputs that they had a plan to free Atiq Ahmad by attacking the police convoy as Atiq was being brought for the hearing. Both Asad and Ghulam were wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case of Prayagraj. Each of them carried a reward of ₹5 lakh.
