Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is facing widespread condemnation for establishing a jungle raj in the state after a businessman, identified as Manish Kumar Gupta, was killed in a police raid in a Gorakhpur hotel. Gorakhpur is the home city of Adityanath, who represented this city in parliament as an MP for a number of years.
According to reports, Gupta died after police raided his hotel, where he was staying with two of his friends. His wife told reporters that police raided her husband’s room and demanded to know their identity proof. “His two friends were from Haryana. He (my husband) jokingly told them (the police) that ‘do we look like terrorists?’ The cops then said that they wanted to search the entire room.
“After the cops failed to find anything in the room, they decided to leave. The only mistake by my husband was that he asked the cops, “santushti ho gayi? (Are you satisfied?). This angered the cops who began to thrash everyone. My husband was seriously injured and fell on the ground,” she said while carrying her little child.
The victim’s wife said that police remained a mute spectator even when her husband cried in pain. Gupta was taken to a local hospital after a long delay before being declared dead.
The wife’s version was corroborated by one of the victim’s friends. “The three of us were sleeping in our room. Around 12:30 am, the doorbell rang. I opened the door and there were 5-7 policemen there and the boy from the reception. They came inside the room and started asking us for IDs. I showed my ID and then woke up Manish. He asked the cops why we were being troubled this late at night. The cops then started threatening us,” Harveer Singh, one of Gupta’s friends, was quoted by NDTV.
गोरखपुर में पुलिस की बर्बरता ने एक युवा व्यापारी की जान ले ली। ये बहुत ही दुखद और निंदनीय है।
उप्र की भाजपा सरकार ने एनकाउंटर की जिस हिंसक संस्कृति को जन्म दिया है, ये उसी का दुष्परिणाम है।
संलिप्त लोगों पर हत्या का मुक़दमा चले और उप्र को हिंसा में धकेलनेवाले इस्तीफ़ा दें। pic.twitter.com/luhjqRTIar
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) September 28, 2021
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav demanded action against guilty cops and resignation from Adityanath for turning Uttar Pradesh into an encounter state.
The Gorakhpur Police have said that six cops had been suspended. The government has announced Rs. 10 lakh in compensation for the victim’s family.
Adityanath, a Hindu hatemonger, was made Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister in 2017. Since becoming the chief minister, he has largely focussed on whipping up communal sentiments while turning a blind eye to the deteriorating law and order. Uttar Pradesh under the former militant Hindutva leader has turned into a lawless state. The state goes to polls in February next year.