Kasganj violence a blot on Uttar Pradesh, says Ram Naik

Lucknow: UP governor Ram Naik on Monday termed the violence in Kasganj as a “blot” on the government even as tension continues to prevail in the riot-hit town.

“What happened in Kasganj is unfortunate and a blot. The government should hold a probe and take steps so that such incidents do not happen again,” he told reporters.

The state government  removed SP Kasganj Sunil Singh for his failure to control the situation and replaced him with Piyush Srivastava.

This is the second time this month that the Yogi government has faced flak from leaders on the laws and order issue. Vice president Venkaiah Naidu, while attending a programme, advised the Yogi government to improve the law and order situation. He even advised the government to revoke arms licensees given to a large number of people.

UP government spokesperson and senior Cabinet minister Siddhartha Nath Singh said on Monday that the situation in Kasganj is returning to normal and that shops are opening now, which is a good sign.

However, miscreants set a house and a kiosk on fire late on Sunday night which was controlled in time.

ADG (law and order) Anand Kumar said that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had been set up to probe the incidents in Kasganj.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath granted a compensation of `20 lakhs to the family of the man killed in clashes.

The district magistrate of Kasganj, R.P. Singh, on Monday visited the family of Chandan Gupta, who was killed in Friday’s clashes, to hand over the cheque of compensation which the family initially refused to accept but later relented. The family is demanding martyr status for Chandan.

“I told the family that it is not in my power to grant the status but I can forward their demand to the government,” the district magistrate told reporters.

Meanwhile, tension continued to prevail in Kasganj and the number of arrests in Friday’s clashes has gone up to 112. Shakeel, the main accused in the killing of Chandan Gupta, is still absconding.

An official statement issued by the UP police said, “So far, 112 persons have been arrested. As many as 31 accused have been arrested, and 81 preventive arrests have been made”.

The statement further said that five cases have been registered so far, of which, three were registered by station in-charge of Kasganj Kotwali. Cases were registered under various sections of the IPC, CLA (Criminal Law Amendment) Act and for violation of the National Flag Act.