Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said on Saturday that gangsters who previously terrorised people with extortion threats and abductions were now wetting their pants after being sentenced by courts. Addressing a gathering following the 'bhoomi pujan' of a bottling plant in Gorakhpur, Adityanath stated that Uttar Pradesh has no room for illegal activities, in contrast to previous governments when goons and mafia openly threatened and kidnapped businessmen.
"When they are sentenced in court, their wet trousers become visible. People are seeing it. The mafia used to terrorise people, send extortion threats to industrialists, and abduct businessmen. But today they are out of their wits (scared) and running for their lives," the chief minister was quoted as saying by PTI.
His remarks come just days after an MP/MLA court found gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and two others guilty of kidnapping Umesh Pal in 2006 and sentenced them to life in prison. Despite the fact that more than 100 cases had been filed against him, this was Ahmad's first conviction.
The former Samajwadi Party MP, 60, was transported by road from Gujarat's Sabarmati Jail to Prayagraj for a hearing in the case. Before leaving the jail in a police cavalcade, Ahmad expressed concern that he would be killed. "Hatya, hatya" (murder, murder), said Ahmed outside the prison.
During the long journey, Ahmad's vehicle was stopped in the Madhya Pradesh district of Shivpuri to allow him to attend to nature's call. When reporters asked him if he was afraid, he responded, "Kahe ka dar." (what fear).
After the murder of Umesh Pal, a witness in the murder of BSP legislator Raju Pal in broad daylight in Prayagraj in January 2005, the Uttar Pradesh administration began cracking down on his associates and gang members. On Friday, a special court in Lucknow indicted Ahmad, his son Umar, and 15 others in the kidnapping of businessman Mohit Jaiswal in 2018.