‘Why President’s Rule should not be imposed in UP’

Kolkata: Following the assassination of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in police custody, Trinamool Congress (TMC) has demanded to know why President’s Rule should not be imposed in Uttar Pradesh given that “Section 144 has been imposed in every district of the state.”

The assassination of Atiq and his brother, in front of the police and the media who were questioning the duo as they were being taken for medical tests, has shocked the entire nation. TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, while addressing a press conference, questioned why President’s Rule should not be imposed in Uttar Pradesh.

Kunal said: “The way these two persons were killed by the assassins in front of police and media shows what India has become. Today’s India is marked by the absence of democracy and mafia raj. This is the law and order situation in a BJP-ruled state.”

The TMC spokesperson claimed that Section 144 was imposed in every district in Uttar Pradesh, the biggest state in India.

“We want to ask the BJP which demands imposition of Article 356 in Bengal at the drop of a hat, why should there be no President’s Rule in Uttar Pradesh now?” Kunal asked. He added that this is the outcome of a “double engine sarkar”.

“The assassination looked pre-planned. It is as if the police arranged the entire scene. It is shocking how two persons can be killed while police are surrounding them. We do not want to know what kind of person the deceased were but since they were in police custody, they ought to have gone through a judicial process. Instead, what we saw was an encounter. Rape, murders, and extra-judicial killings have seen a rise in UP,” Kunal said, adding that in the last six months, the number of unnatural deaths in UP has crossed 100 to 150.

Further, alluding to the recent controversy where BJP leaders questioned how could the police allow the TMC leader Anubrata Mondal to speak to strangers in a roadside eatery in Bengal while being taken to Delhi, Kunal said that TMC now wants to ask BJP how can two people be shot dead in police custody.

“What happened in UP lowered India’s image in front of the world”, he remarked.