Akhilesh slammed for denying CBI probe into Mathura violence

Lucknow: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday slammed Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for ruling out a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the violent Jawaharbagh incident in Mathura earlier this week. The anti-encroachment drive which had exposed the unpreparedness of the Mathura police and led to political mud-slinging, had left 29 persons dead, including the city SP and a police SHO. Yadav flew to meet the bereaved family of SHO Santosh Yadav in Jaunpur on Tuesday and gave them a cheque of Rs 50 lakh as financial assistance, and assured that education of both the children of the deceased police official would be taken care by the state government. Later while interacting with the local media, he ruled out the possibility of a CBI probe into the whole incident and said that since the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government had constituted a Judicial Commission to probe the incident, there was no room for a CBI investigation, as demanded by opposition parties. "This shows that the ruling party in UP is not only scared of a CBI probe but also strengthens our allegation that the party leaders patronised the sect that eventually attacked the police party and was involved in the large-scale violence during the police bid to clear encroachments at the Jawaharbagh, as orders by a court," Vijay Bahadur Pathak, state spokesman of the BJP said. "Serious charges have been levelled against PWD minister Shivpal Singh Yadav and the chief minister should hence not shy away from a CBI probe" the BJP leader added.