Uttar Pradesh minister Suresh Kumar on Thursday said police cannot be deployed everywhere and no government can ensure a crime-free society, hours after a group of armed criminals allegedly raped four women and shot a man dead on the Jewar-Bulandshahr highway in Gautam Budh Nagar.
“Itna bada pradesh hai, humne zero crime ki baat kabhi nahi ki [it is such a big state, we never promised zero crime],” said Khanna, the Urban Development Minister in Yogi Adityanath’s government. “But the government wants to punish criminals without exception. Any criminal, no matter how big, will face action under law.”
On Thursday, a family of eight was travelling to Bulandshahr from Greater Noida when they were ambushed by the gang – comprising six members – around 1.30 am. The family alleged that the gang first looted their cash and valuables and then assaulted the women. Police had deployed two teams of policemen and are still on the lookout for the suspects.
In July 2016, a group of highway robbers raped a mother and her 13-year-old daughter in Bulandshahr. The family of five was heading to Shahjahanpur when they were attacked around 1.30 am on the Ghaziabad-Aligarh highway at Dostpur village. The incident had led to widespread protests, and political backlash for the Akhilesh Yadav government, which was in power at the time.
The brutal crime on the highway has revived questions about lawlessness and poor policing in Uttar Pradesh. The state government is already being criticised by the Opposition for its failure to control communal clashes in Saharanpur.
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