In the wake of Mangesh Yadav’s death in a police encounter, Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress, unleashed a vicious attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Yadav was a wanted criminal who was involved in a high-profile robbery in Sultanpur.
Rahul Gandhi verbally attacked PM Modi for touching the constitution with his forehead over a recent encounter case in Sultanpur, UP
Gandhi charged that the BJP-led government was weakening the rule of law and supporting extrajudicial actions.
“In BJP-ruled states, the ‘law and constitution’ are being flouted by those who have the responsibility to enforce them,” Gandhi said.
He maintained that Yadav’s death during a shootout with the police is a symbol of the BJP’s disrespect for the “rule of law.”
All about Sultanpur encounter
Early on Thursday morning, Mangesh Yadav, a criminal facing numerous charges, was shot and killed by police during an altercation. He was wanted for ₹1 lakh and was engaged in a robbery for Rs 1.5 crore that occurred in late August at a jewelry store in Sultanpur, according to the police. According to police reports, Yadav was shot and killed by a Special Task Force (STF) team under the command of two senior officers in retaliation.
Gandhi, however, expressed alarm about the rise of encounters in Uttar Pradesh during the BJP’s administration, charging that the Special Task Force (STF) is functioning as a “criminal gang” while under BJP control.
“A professional force like the STF is being run like a ‘criminal gang’ under the BJP government, on which the central government’s silence is their clear consent to this ‘Thoko Niti’ (shootout policy),” he said, pointing out that despite numerous STF encounters being investigated, no action has been taken against the officers involved.
“The tears of Mangesh’s family are asking a question to the whole country—who will live and who will not, will this be decided by the court or the police?” He questioned, demanding an unbiased inquiry into the interaction.
“All the suspicious encounters in Uttar Pradesh should be investigated impartially and justice should be done.”
The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha made an attack at Prime Minister Narendra Modi by claiming that “when your governments are openly tearing it to pieces,” touching the Constitution with your forehead in front of the cameras is just a pretense.
The passing of Mangesh Yadav is the most recent in a line of encounters in Uttar Pradesh where the police has stepped up its efforts to catch offenders, frequently with deadly results. The leaders of the opposition have expressed doubts about these activities’ validity on several occasions.
Chief of the Samajwadi Party (SP), Akhilesh Yadav, charged that the BJP was using the courts and police to single out people on the basis of caste. He said that Mangesh Yadav’s caste was the reason behind his deliberate death during an encounter.