Police killing people instead of protecting them: Akhilesh

Accusing the Uttar Pradesh government of ‘ruining’ the police system, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav has alleged that the police in the state are killing people instead of protecting them at the behest of the ruling party and its leaders.
In a statement issued on Monday, he alleged, “Uttar Pradesh is making new records every year in the case of custodial deaths under the BJP government. The police are torturing innocent people at the behest of BJP leaders and workers.”
“The police are looting, torturing and killing people in the state. In a place like capital Lucknow, two youths have died in police custody in a fortnight. Ever since the BJP government came to power in the state, deaths in police custody are increasing every year,” he alleged.
“In Uttar Pradesh, 451 people died in police custody in 2021, whereas this figure increased to 501 in 2022. The number of deaths in police custody is continuously increasing,” he claimed.
“Two weeks ago in Lucknow, Aman Gautam died in Vikas Nagar due to police beating. On Saturday, Mohit Pandey died in Chinhat due to beating by Lucknow police,” the SP chief said.
“The BJP government has become irrational in the arrogance of power. From the chief minister to the lower level, the administration is working with a spirit of revenge. The image of Uttar Pradesh is getting tarnished due to deaths in police custody and fake encounters,” Akhilesh Yadav further alleged.
Many BJP, BSP leaders join SP
Meanwhile, many Bharatiya Janata Party and Bahujan Samaj Party leaders from Gorakhpur joined the SP in the presence of party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow on Monday.