Land grabbing in UP institutionalised under SP rule: BJP

New Delhi: Coming down heavily on the Samajwadi Party (SP) government in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP on Friday said land grabbing had become institutionlised in the state under that party`s rule.

"The Mathura incident shows that land grabbing has become institutionalised under the SP rule for which they are even ready to pay with the lives of police officers," Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman Sudhanshu Trivedi said.

"And in the process, one of their most senior ministers and the Chief Minsiter`s family member is also involved," he added in reference to cabinet minister Shivpal Yadav, who is a brother of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

A sting operation on Thursday showed Inspector Munni Lal Gaur, chief of local intelligence unit (LIU) in Mathura, saying the state`s top brass was warned about the danger posed by the Jawahar Bagh squatters, who were members of a cult gang.

According to the sting, the LIU sent as many as 80 reports to the Uttar Pradesh administration in Lucknow but they were ignored.

"It is clear by now that the the state administration or the police machinery was not caught unawares for want of intelligence. It was instead a pre-planned attempt to make the illegal occupation of land permanent," Trivedi said.

He also reiterated the party`s demand for a CBI probe into the violence that claimed 29 lives, including those of Superintendent of Police (City) Mukul Dwivedi and Sub-Inspector Santosh Yadav.

Trivedi also criticised other opposition parties, including the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Congress and the Rashtriya Lok Dal for their alleged silence on the issue.

"The BSP, RJD and the Congress are supporting each other in the Rajya Sabha elections in many states, including UP, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh. It seems they too are conniving with the ruling party in UP to shield the Mathura violence perpetrators," Trivedi said.

The state government has set up a one-man commission of Allahabad High Court`s retired judge Mirza Imtiaz Murtaza to investigate the circumstances leading to the June 2 violence.