Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is said to be infuriated by the increasing number of kidnapping and murder cases in the state.
According to official sources, the Chief Minister has now asked officers to “show results or face the music”. This comes after another case of kidnapping and murder case was reported from Kanpur Dehat on Tuesday. A string of similar cases has been reported from Kanpur and Gorakhpur as well.
Adityanath has also said that strict actions will be taken against the accused who will be booked under the National Security Act (NSA) that empowers the concerned government to keep a suspect in jail for 12 months without any charge.
State DGP H.C. Awasthi, late on Tuesday night, also issued an advisory for all police personnel and asked them to deal with complaints of kidnappings promptly and with seriousness.
The developments come after another man was allegedly abducted and killed in Kanpur Dehat on Tuesday. His body was found in a well.
The victim Brajesh Pal was allegedly abducted from Bhognipur on July 16 and his body was found in Devrahat area of Kanakheda village on Tuesday evening.
Pal used to work as a manager at a toll plaza on the Kanpur-Jhansi highway. On July 16, he had gone to work at the toll plaza and stayed there till midnight. He later decided to sleep in the toll plaza premises.
In the morning, when the security staff arrived at the toll plaza, they found it locked from inside and a search was launched for Pal. When his cousin dialed his phone, a stranger received the call and demanded Rs 20 lakh in ransom.
Soon after receiving the call from kidnappers, Pal’s family reached the police station with the audio clip.
On Tuesday, police arrested one of Pal’s acquaintances who led the team to the well where the victim’s body was found.
The family has alleged lapses in the investigation done by the police which led to the victim’s death.
SP Anurag Vats said that the police had acted promptly in the matter and had arrested one of the accused who led them to the place where the body had been dumped.
The family alleged that the victim’s cousins were taken to the police station and were allegedly beaten up. One of the cousin’s hand was fractured, the family alleged, and another one also sustained injuries.
The Chief Minister has announced financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to Brajesh Pal’s family.
It is noteworthy that a lab technician, Sanjeet Yadav, from Kanpur was kidnapped on June 22 and his abductors had demanded a ransom of Rs 30 lakh for his release. An FIR was registered at Barra police station.
Sanjeet Yadav’s family alleged that they managed to arrange Rs 30 lakh on the insistence of the Kanpur police and left the bag with the money on the railway track on July 13, as directed by the kidnappers.
The police remained a silent spectator and Sanjeet was not released.
Later, after the arrest of five accused, it was revealed that Sanjeet had been murdered on June 26/27 and his body was thrown in the Pandu River. The body is yet to be recovered.
The state government has suspended four police personnel, including IPS officer Aparna Gupta, for laxity in the probe into the kidnapping and murder of the Kanpur lab technician.
In another such case, a class 6 student in Gorakhpur was kidnapped and killed within hours of his abduction even as the kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 1 crore.
The body of the 14-year-old boy was recovered from a jungle area near a canal here on Monday evening.
The 14-year-old boy was the son of a grocery and ‘paan’ shop owner.
Meanwhile, the opposition has been mounting a blistering attack on the Yogi government on its failure to control the crime graph.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, through a series of tweets, said that the law and order situation is deteriorating.
“At this time, it is the responsibility of the police and administration to take action in such matters with promptness and efficiency,” she added.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said, “There is no fear of police in minds of criminals and encounter policy of the state government has failed.”
