SP MP stages dharna to protest ‘collapse’ of law & order in Bahraich

Samajwadi Party MP from Kaiserganj Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh sat on a dharna outside the office of the superintendent of police in Bahraich against the "poor law and order situation" in the district.

Despite assurances by the DM and SP of Bahraich, Singh continued his sit-in and left only after serving an ultimatum to police officials to mend their ways.

The drama began in the morning when Singh arrived at the SP's office and sat in the lobby in protest, just outside the SP's chamber. Soon people started assembling and a sizeable crowd gathered. SP MLC Arun Veer Singh also joined him.

"The law and order situation in Bahraich district has collapsed completely. The police are not listening to anybody. The police stations are up for sale openly," said Singh. "I have concrete information that the police are framing innocents in fake cases and they are sent to jail. It is the limit of lawlessness."

He also cited incidents such as Mumtaz of Jarwal Road police station, who was arrested and later let off by the police. "The police then implicated another person Munna and sent him to jail," said Singh. He said police even snatched money from a villager while he was on way to get medicine for his mother.

Despite several attempts, SP of Bahraich G P Kannaujia could not be contacted. DIG Devipatan zone, B P Tripathi said he was on leave and not aware of the developments. IG, Gorakhpur Range, Brij Bhushan Sharma said he was also not aware of the incident and local police officials would be in a better position to brief reporters.

Singh defended his protest despite belonging to the ruling party on the ground that he is answerable to the public. "Every Saturday I attend to people in my constituency. Complaints against police keep on piling. Whenever I bring this to the notice of police, they never respond. So I decided to meet the people outside the SP's office so that these thick-skinned police officials listen to people's grievances," the MP said.

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