UP deputy CM, Akhilesh Yadav trade barbs over Gorakhnath temple attack, accused

The UP deputy chief minister accused Akhilesh Yadav of not taking the attack on the Gorakhnath temple seriously.

Published on: Apr 7, 2022, 13:07:24 IST

Written by Manjiri Sachin Chitre | Edited by Chandrashekar Srinivasan

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Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Thursday took a dig at Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav over his comments about the Gorakhnath temple attack and the accused. Claiming the Samajwadi Party would soon become a 'Sampat Party', Maurya said, "Akhilesh ji shouldn't so openly pass comments about an accused. He is a former CM. Our security personnel caught him (the accused) by risking their lives after he was linked to terrorist organizations. His statement is cheap and deplorable."

The UP deputy chief minister then accused Akhilesh Yadav of not taking the attack on the Gorakhnath temple seriously. "He took back cases during 2013 terror attacks. The Gorakhnath temple attack is not ordinary, it was very serious. I condemn his attempts to boost the morale of terrorists," he said.

Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday questioned the handling of the Gorakhnath temple attack case. The SP chief asked investigators to 'pay heed' to the accused's mental state.

"His father said he has a psychiatric problem, dealing with the bipolar issue, I feel we need to pay heed to that as well (for probe). BJP is a party that exaggerates," he had said.

The father of the accused in the Gorakhnath temple attack had claimed his son is not 'mentally stable'. Speaking to news agency ANI on Tuesday, he had said, "Since childhood, he has suffered from depression. He also received medical treatment. Due to some developments, he believed that police were after him. He had no planning and did this due to his current mental state."

On Sunday evening Ahmad Murtaza Abbasi tried to enter the Gorakhnath temple premises and, when challenged, attacked security personnel at the gate. In the scuffle, the accused injured three police personnel - Gopal Goud and Anil Paswan, constables from the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), and Anurag Rajput, a civil police constable. The accused was immediately arrested and multiple charges have been slapped against him.

Meanwhile, the security has been beefed up for UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath after the attack. Reportedly, two units of CRPF have been deployed to the chief minister's residence.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chandrashekar Srinivasan
Chandrashekar is a Senior Editor at Hindustan Times. A journalist with 11+ years across print and digital media, he also has degrees in Sociology and Economics. He has worked in the political, business, sports, and entertainment news spaces, but is happiest just watching football.Read More

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