Akhilesh: Sambhal a planned conspiracy, cops should be charged for murder

PTI New Delhi: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said the violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal was part of a “well-planned” conspiracy and that the talk of “khudai” (digging) across the country by the BJP and its associates will end up hurting communal amity. Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister squarely blamed the local police and administration for the recent violence in Sambhal. He alleged that police personnel fired from official and personal weapons, killing five innocent people and injuring dozens after some locals pelted stones at them to protest their high-handedness.

The MP from Kannauj demanded the suspension of guilty officials and registration of a murder case against them to ensure that there is no such “violation” of the Constitution again. Akhilesh Yadav, amid occasional interruptions from the treasury benches, suggested that the BJP’s inner politics was also at work and claimed that it was a “battle” between Delhi and Lucknow. While the SP president spoke in the Lok Sabha, his uncle and Ram Gopal Yadav raised the matter in the Rajya Sabha and echoed similar views. Ram Gopal Yadav said Sambhal was converted into a police zone and people were baffled why it was being done. At one point, water started flowing out of the mosque and people thought some mischief was happening inside.

Peace was disturbed with police opening fire, in which five people were killed and several injured, he said. Ram Gopal Yadav, however, failed to complete his speech and Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said certain parts of his statement would not go on record. At this, the SP and some other opposition parties staged a walkout. In his speech in the Lok Sabha, Akhilesh Yadav claimed the violence was part of a “well-planned” conspiracy.

The Uttar Pradesh bypolls were first shifted to November 20 from November 13 and a local civil judge (senior division) ordered he urvey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid on the same day a petition was filed claiming that a temple once stood at the site, he elaborated.