Opposition slams Yogi Adityanath over 'fake' encounter

Lucknow, Oct 9 (IANS) The opposition in Uttar Pradesh is determined to nail the Yogi Adityanath government over the alleged encounter of a 'mining mafia' in Jhansi.

While the Congress has already termed the encounter as 'fake' and demanded a CBI probe into the same, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav will visit Jhansi on Wednesday to meet the family of the 28-year-old Pushpendra Yadav, who was shot dead by the police on Sunday night in the alleged encounter.

The Rashtriya Yadav Sena has also demanded the arrest of the guilty cops.

On Tuesday, Aditya Yadav, son of Shivpal Yadav and a leader of the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL), met the family members in Jhansi and later told reporters that a proper inquiry was needed in the case. He also sought action against guilty cops and compensation for the family.

According to the police, the man had opened fire at an officer but his family claims he was killed as he refused to pay a bribe. The incident has already sparked protests in the area.

Pushpendra Yadav ran a sand mining business and was shot dead on October 6 by a police team after he had had fired at a police inspector who had seized his truck used for illegal mining activities a few days ago.

His family, however, claimed that the police officer in charge of the area, Dharmendra Chauhan, was demanding Rs 1.5 lakh as bribe to release his truck. Chauhan murdered Pushpendra Yadav after he threatened to expose him, they said.

"He had given some money earlier. But the inspector was asking for more money. He was shot dead by the police when he refused to pay money. I want justice," said Yadav's wife.

The police cremated his body on Monday amid protests from his family members, who refused to perform the last rites demanding that a murder case be filed against the police personnel involved in his encounter.

On Tuesday afternoon, the UP Police tweeted a list of cases filed against Pushpendra Yadav in the past, to support their claims of his criminal past.

However, an analysis of the five cases reveals they were mostly related to village-level disputes and none of the cases were related to mining or any major violations of the law.

State Minister Siddhartha Nath Singh stated: "It was an encounter but Akhilesh has to go to the person's house because he is in love with the sand mining mafia and there is also the caste factor."