There was a time, when states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were known a ‘jungle raj’. Robberies and dacoities were common on streets, on trains and any space used by general public.

People would fear going out in the night. Even the police department had a notorious reputation those days since common public who went to stations seeking justice or to lodge a complaint, would never be unsure if they’d return alive. Police officers were under the control of zamindars. Citizens had to fear the criminals on one hand and the police, on the other. In the recent days, looks like this situation has returned and this time around, it has gone from frying pan to the fire.

At a time when general public would be scared of anti social elements; now, even the Bihari police have to fear the criminals. The police who watched the lynching of Akhlaq on the pretext of him having stored beef (which turned out to be a false allegation later) are now the target of criminals. This is somewhat like the story of a tiger who tasted human blood. Those who love the smell of blood won’t decipher between the blood of commoners or that of the police.

As a proof of the fact that Sanghi goondas have completely taken over the law and order system in Uttar Pradesh, another police officer has been murdered. Even when the lynching of one police officer at Bulandshahr is still fresh on people’s mind and the investigation is yet to progress, another police constable has been done to death in an incident of targeted stone pelting.

The constable was on his way home from duty, when death came calling. As usual, the UP CM has hardly spoken about this. This is an open challenge that the goondas have posed to the police department in UP.

Irony is, if they were mere rowdies, they would have been killed in staged encounter by now. The police who could mercilessly shoot and kill the Dalits like stray canines, when they staged protests, killing rowdies is no big deal really.

But they are helpless in UP. Because the ones who killed the cops are not mere rowdies, but political activists in the guise of keepers of culture. And they even have the silent concurrence of the CM of this state. To act against them is to act against the CM or the entire political system itself.

Which is why, saving their own life is a big deal for the police there beyond catching the culprits. This is contributing a lot to the increasing criminal activities in UP. The police are forced to share a very cordial relationship with the criminals owing to the political support the latter possess.

They can move the police to any place if the latter do not dance to their tunes. If that’s not possible, the conventional mode of punishing such as murder, is an easier option for the goondas who are given clean chit by someone as big as the CM Yogi Adityanath.

His statement will not condemn the killing, but merely call it an ‘accident’ and hand it over to the investigating agencies to delay things further. This has given the culprits major boost to continue on killing spree after the Bulandshahr incident.

This indirectly encouraged the next murder both these incidents are warnings issued by the Sangh Parivar to the police department in UP. A report says such blatant ‘cautions’ have increased after the recent killings to indicate ‘this would be the fate of everyone who’d defy us’.

Sangh goondas are getting a major impetus with this and this is working very badly on the morale of the law implementing agencies. How would the police ever perform their job if they are threatened for simply imparting their duties? That the goondas enjoy political support is another matter altogether.  

With these murders, the criminals are on the way to totally take control of the law and order situation in UP. None of the oral instructions seem to be working at all. Recently, retired officers had written to CM Adityanath and had implored him to uphold the duty of public office, by ensuring that the situation is free from threat for the officers to perform their duties.

But considering the political background of Adityanath, these things do not seem to materialize in UP yet. Because the CM himself assumed power by way of hate speech and mob leading mentality. How can he instruct the officers to act against his own men? The President needs to intervene for UP to come under control. Either the CM has to resign, or the government needs to be dismissed and the President rule needs to be imposed.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.

The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.

Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.

"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.

Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.

As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.

"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.

There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.

The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.

The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.

The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.

After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.

Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.

Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.

To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.

In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.

Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.