The Centre on Friday sought a report from the UP government even as Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav after 24 people, including an SP and an SHO, were killed in a massive clash between the police and encroachers in Mathura.
In a communication, the Home Ministry asked the state government to provide a detailed factual report as early as possible on the incident that took place on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday launched a scathing attack on the state government, claiming intelligence failure led to the violence in Mathura.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra questioned the police preparedness to handle such grim incidents. “Why the force was not prepared?” he asked. “They were under pressure from the administration to go easy as the squatters are linked with the ruling party,” he added.
Citing similar incidents in Tunda, Allahabad and Bareilly, Patra said, “Criminals in UP have become even more notorious due to the protection that they enjoy from the ruling party. This is the reason why there have been around 900 cases of police personnel being attacked by under SP rule.”
Asked about Mathura MP Hema Malini tweeting about her latest film shortly after the clashes took place in her constituency, Patra defended her and suggested that the media should not divert from the prime issue. He in fact questioned why Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav did not reach the spot soon after the incident.