Residents of Nithari and adjoining sectors of Noida have alleged that when they went to lodge complaints, the police said their daughters might have eloped.

“Two things have come to my notice: that many FIRs were never lodged, and the officers at the police posts behaved badly with the complainants. This calls for the harshest punishment and that is why I have dismissed so many officers,” said Yadav.

Yadav claimed that he did not receive any communication, written or oral, from the local BJP MLA on the issue. “I have been in the Assembly with BJP MLAs and they never told me anything on the Nithari case. I have never received any letters from them either. When the situation was so bad, why was I never told about this?” he said.

He, however, admitted that he received a letter from the National Commission for Women.

Yadav said he was not planning to visit Nithari soon. “Whenever I go to a troubled spot, I am surrounded by my administrative set-up that makes communication difficult and takes away from the main cause. I am planning to send Amar Singh instead,” he said.