Akhilesh Yadav On Bahraich Encounter: Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav slammed the Yogi-Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government following the encounter of suspects in the Bahraich violence case with the police. 


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Five suspects in the Bahraich violence case were arrested in Bahraich on Thursday after an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh Police in which two of them suffered gunshot injuries, a senior official said. The accused were allegedly trying to flee to Nepal, which shares a border with Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh, the officer said.


Reacting to the police action, Akhilesh Yadav raised questions and claimed that the state government is doing such encounters with an aim to promote hatred and hide its failures. He also cornered the government over the law and order situation in the state.


“Doing encounters and promoting hatred—this is a new method of working the UP government has discovered. They are hiding all their failures. What sort of law-and-order situation is this? What kind of arrangements are these where you are claiming people’s lives to strike a balance in the state? And the government is doing these sorts of encounters to hide their failures,” the former UP CM said.


“What happened was really sad, and such an incident should not happen in a society. We are asking, What will you do, and will you meet the family members of the victim? We will work for the family, which is facing sorrow. But the question remains the same, and there should be no discrimination in the eyes of any government. Once Britishers gave a slogan of divide and rule, the government is following that. The people know this. The incident that happened in Bahraich was orchestrated. For this, who will take the responsibility? Who is responsible for what happened? This incident could have been stopped, and no one would have died,” he further stated.



Speaking on the encounter, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Amitabh Yash said, "I have information of the exchange of fire and gunshot injuries." Yash, also the chief of the Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh Police, said the Bahraich police, investigating the murder and subsequent violence, have already established the link of one of the accused in Nepal.


Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar said those arrested have been identified as Mohammad Faheen, Mohammad Sarfaraz, and Abdul Hameed, who are named accused in the FIR, and two others, Mohammad Taleem alias Sabloo and Mohammad Afzal.


Bahraich Superintendent of Police Vrinda Shukla told reporters that Sarfaraz and Taleem were injured in the encounter in the Nanpara area of the district. She did not elaborate further.


A doctor at a local health care centre said, "Two people were brought here around 2.35 pm. One of them was named Sarfaraz, and the other Mohd Talib. One of them had injuries on his left leg and the other on his right leg," as quoted by news agency PTI.


"The bullet is still inside the body. I have referred them to the district hospital in Bahraich for X-rays and further management. Both are in normal condition," he told reporters.


Violence broke out at Maharajganj in the Mahsi tehsil of Bahraich district on Sunday, allegedly over loud music being played outside a place of worship during a Durga Puja immersion procession.


A local, Ram Gopal Mishra, 22, part of the passing group, died of gunshot wounds in the ensuing violence, triggering vandalism and arson in the area, with mobs torching several houses, shops, showrooms, hospitals, and vehicles.


(With PTI Inputs)