Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, slammed the Opposition on Friday for demanding a CBI inquiry into the killing of BJP MLA Krishnanad Rai and said that State police was capable of working out the murder.

"Those demanding a CBI inquiry into the murder of Mr. Rai are in fact helping the culprits," Mr. Yadav said replying on the discussion on Mr. Rai's killing in the Assembly.

Citing the probe by the State police in the recent terrorist attack on the Ram Janambhoomi complex in Ayodhya, Mr. Yadav said the Special Task Force was able to work out the matter within quick time.

The CBI takes a long time in the inquiry and the culprits will be freed till that time, he said giving details of several cases being handed over to the agency in the past. He, however, said that he would consider a CBI inquiry if the State police failed to work out the case.

Mr. Yadav said the State police could seek help of the CBI, Interpol and other security agencies in working out Mr. Rai's murder case. He rejected the BJP and BSP's contention that the STF had informed the government about the possibility of an attack on Mr. Rai.

The Chief Minister also took exception to dragging of his party's name with the independent MLA Mukhtar Ansari and made it clear that Samajwadi Party has never had any relation with Mr. Ansari. He, however, gave a clean chit to the party MP Afazal Ansari, who had surrendered before a Ghazipur court on Thursday after being named in Mr. Rai's killing, saying that he was a `gentleman'. Mr. Yadav claimed that he had never sought support from Mukhtar Ansari despite being urged to do so from some quarters at the time of formation of his government in 2003.

"The BJP leaders are spreading rumours that Mr. Ansari had links with our party," he said.

Mr. Yadav launched a scathing attack on the BSP and alleged that it had been encouraging criminals and giving them tickets in the elections.

The Chief Minister said the government would probe the allegation that notorious criminal Munna Bajarangi, whose name figured in the Mr. Rai's killing.

Slamming the Opposition for alleging that the role of the state government in the investigation was not above board, Mr. Yadav said if it was proved that the SP had encouraged criminals he would resign from his post.

He also rejected the Opposition contention that there was any political pressure on the police and said that the killers of Rai managed to escape as the sniffer dogs rushed to the scene were delayed owing to the agitation by the saffron party as a result of which roads were blocked. The Chief Minister also said that a `mutt' (religious ashram) in Gorakhpur had been providing patronage to criminals from Poorvanchal.

"We have the reports to this effect... but if we send police it will be construed as an attack on a religious place," he said inviting strong protests from the lone Hindu Mahasabha MLA from Gorakhpur Radha Mohan Agarwal. The Chief Minister also slammed BJP General Secretary Rajnath Singh for sitting on a indefinite dharna in Varanasi in demanding a CBI probe in the matter and alleged that the dharna was being held on the instructions of the mafias.

He said his government was carrying out a drive to eliminate criminals and so far as many as 395 dreaded criminals had been killed in encounters with the police. He informed the House that there were 32 registered inter-State criminal gangs in the State having 445 members of whom 52 had been killed and 71 arrested.

PTI

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