Hitting back at SP chief Akhilesh Yadav for his recent 'Thoko Neeti' (encounter policy) remarks, UP Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma Thursday said those "having a soft corner" for criminals are using new words to weaken the government's drive against crime and criminals.
He claimed that criminals who roamed freely in the previous SP regime were now in jail.
"He (Akhilesh) does not have any answer. In the previous SP government, criminals roamed freely on the streets, operated as party workers inside a police station. Now those criminals are in the jail.
"Those having soft corner for criminals are using new words only to weaken the government's drive against crime and criminals. The more vigorous attack is done on the criminals, the more pain is felt by those having sympathy towards them," Sharma told PTI in an interview.
His remarks came days after Yadav alleged that the police officers in Uttar Pradesh are following the 'Thoko Neeti' (encounter policy) of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to avoid getting transferred.
"The UP chief minister is advocating his Thoko Neeti (encounter policy) everywhere. Due to this, there is a trend among the police officials that they undertake encounters when they anticipate that they can be transferred. Their acts are emulated by their subordinates," Yadav had said.
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Seeking support from all sections of the society for the success of anti-crime measures taken by the BJP government, Sharma said that the UP chief minister has made it amply clear to policemen that there should be "zero tolerance" towards crime.
"Our endeavour is that Uttar Pradesh, which was earlier synonymous with crime and criminals, should now be known for work and development. Instead of guns and country-made revolvers in hands, there should be computers," he said.
To a question on the NHRC issuing notices to the state government from time to time on police encounters, he said, "All police encounters which took place in the state during the current BJP regime are based on facts."
To another question, he said, "The biggest achievement of the UP government was that all the festivals be it Eid, Kaanwar Yatra, Holi, Dussehra and Deepawali passed off peacefully. There was no communal riot or any untoward incident. Apart from this, not a single terror attack took place in the state."
"In 2016, during the SP regime, as many as 4,085 cases were registered, while in 2018 (from January 1 to November 30, 2018), as many as 3,340 cases were registered for incidents of cow slaughter. This makes it amply clear that the SP's claim of lodging of fake cases is absolutely false."
On the allegations of poor law and order levelled by parties over attacks on cops in Bulandshahr and Ghazipur, he said, "The government has acted tough in Bulandshahr and Ghazipur incidents. Unlike the previous governments, this government has gone in the depth of the case to solve it."
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