New Delhi: Hours after the death of journalist Vikram Joshi, who was shot in the head in Ghaziabad, Congress party went all guns blazing against Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh Government, while seeking his resignation over the crippling law and order situation of the state.
While addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, "What was the fault of Vikram Joshi? Wasn't he simply trying to protect his family, did he not seek basic justice against those who were harassing her minor niece from past one year? Where has the buck stopped since anyone who raised voice against crime was silenced?"
Joshi was shot from a point-blank range by a group of men, on Monday night at Vijay Nagar of Ghaziabad. The whole incident has also been recorded in CCTV footage.
Police had said that Joshi was attacked after he lodged a complaint against those who were harassing his niece.
Shrinate stated, "Yogi Adityanath promised the UP to make it a 'Ram Rajya' but with such complete lawlessness, it has become a 'jungle raj'. UP is the house of one-sixth of India's population which did not elect Yogi Adityanath to witness crime increase manifold."
Read: Journalist shot in Ghaziabad passes away; Opposition slams Yogi government
"It is UP CM's first and only responsibility to ensure the safety of citizens and if he is incapable of doing, please move away. He can simply resign. At no cost will we stand mute spectators to witness UP turning into a 'Apradh Pradesh' (crime state)," she further added.
Questioning the Government over the police's inaction to register a case and to keep a track on the prime accused Chhotu, the Congress leader alleged, "It is the soft-benevolent attitude towards the crime, the attempts to mask criminal data, the political patronage that has been given by Yogi Adityanath government that has emboldened criminals all across the state of Uttar Pradesh."
Read: UP govt will not spare culprits who killed Ghaziabad journalist: Naqvi
Congress also shared National Crime Records Bureau data of 2018, which stated that UP is at the top in every act of crime in India as on a daily basis, an average of 46 women are abducted and kidnapped, 12 are raped and a minimum of 36 women face assault with an intent to outrage their modesty.
Out of the 312 BJP MLAs in UP assembly, 114 of them are facing criminal charges, and out of that 83 MLAs are facing charges of heinous crimes of rape, murder or attempt to murder.
"I am not surprised to see that Uttar Pradesh has become the land of lawlessness and why crimes are consistently rising. Can we entrust on these people to enforce law and order in the state?" she questioned.
Shrinate also attacked RSS over the rising crime across the country, by saying, "An institution which has no space for women, you can understand how much aware its members will be for the growing rate of crime against women in the country."
Also Read: UP journos protest over colleague's murder in Ghaziabad
