CM Adityanath orders magisterial probe into Kanpur deaths, opposition set to attack his govt in Assembly

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the death of a woman and her daughter in Kanpur Dehat during an anti-encroachment drive, an incident which the opposition is set to raise during the assembly session beginning next week.

Pramila Dixit (45) and Neha (20) were cremated at Bithoorghat in Kanpur Dehat district with policemen deployed along the road from the victims’ Madauli village.

The women died after allegedly setting themselves on fire Monday in a hut in the presence of police, district administration and revenue officials who had come to the village to demolish encroachments from "gram samaj" land.

On Wednesday, Congress workers protested outside the party office in Lucknow after they were apparently not allowed to proceed towards Raj Bhavan and submit a memorandum to Governor Anandiben Patel.

Police put barricades outside the Congress office and there were heated exchanges between the protesters and them. Congress state president Brijlal Khabri demanded a judicial probe into the deaths.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati slammed the BJP government for following "bulldozer politics” which she said is taking innocent lives.

Samajwadi Party leaders, meanwhile, made it clear that they plan to raise the issue in the state assembly during the Budget session which begins Monday.

SP’s chief whip in the House Manoj Pandey and its MLA Amitabh Vajpayee said the state’s BJP government should give a compensation of Rs 5 crore to the victims’ family for each death and government jobs to two of its members.

CM Adityanath told a television channel that the truth about the incident will come out “in a transparent manner”.

"The Kanpur incident is tragic. An SIT (special investigation team) is already looking into it. I have also ordered a magisterial probe into it," he tweeted.

Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Women's Welfare Pratibha Shukla met the bereaved family on Tuesday, and blamed district officials for turn of events that led to the deaths.

Police have registered an FIR against 39 people, including a sub-divisional magistrate, four revenue officials, a police station head and unnamed police personnel. Murder is among the sections listed in the FIR.

The aggrieved family had earlier said they would not perform the cremation till their demands were met and the accused arrested.

But after assurances from Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak they allowed the post-mortem exams and later performed the last rites of the two women.

Pratibha Dixit’s son Shivam Dixit told media persons after the cremation that the authorities have agreed to give Rs 1 crore as ex gratia compensation, a government job for a family member, a house under a government scheme, land for him and his brother and life-time pension for their father.

However, there was no immediate confirmation of this from the authorities.

Senior officials including Divisional Commissioner Raj Shekhar and Inspector General of Police (Kanpur Range) Prashant Kumar were present at the cremation.

IGP Kumar said an inquiry has been ordered and he will not spare those responsible for the incident.