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U.P. acted under our pressure: Sonia

Special Correspondent

There is nothing like law and order in the State and the Centre should intervene: Vajpayee

— Photos: AP, V.V. Krishnan

CONSOLING THE VICTIMS: Congress president Sonia Gandhi meets on Saturday residents of Nithari village in Noida, where scores of skulls and other body parts of children and women were found.

NEW DELHI: The Mulayam Singh Yadav Government on Saturday came under fresh attack from political parties across the spectrum for the Nithari killings.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who visited the area a day after the Uttar Pradesh Government decided to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation, said the move came under pressure exerted by her party.

Ms. Gandhi, whose visit was kept under wraps, told reporters that anyone could see for himself the kind of law and order situation that obtained in the State.

The former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee sought Central intervention in the State following the unfolding of the killings of young children in the village in Noida. "There is nothing like law and order in the State and the Centre should intervene," he said here.

The BJP has been demanding imposition of President's rule ahead of the Assembly elections.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat, along with Delhi State Committee members, also visited Nithari and met the families of the victims. Last week the party held demonstrations and demanded a CBI probe.

Plea to magistrate

Ms. Karat also met the district magistrate and asked him to ensure compensation to the five families whose children had been identified but were still denied payment.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat talks to the victims.

Given the increasing number of parents who were coming to the area, she called upon authorities to immediately collate the number of children missing from the district in the last two years and monitor the details of each case.

Criminal negligence

In a statement, the party said the country sought to know the truth behind the killings and the CBI should ensure a time-bound probe into all aspects including the suspicion of the involvement of a bigger gang linked to the organ trade.

"The criminal negligence of the Noida police into the investigation of the missing children and adolescents has been compounded by the utterly insensitive and callous manner in which the Uttar Pradesh Government has responded to the national outrage such as the statement of PWD Minister Mr. Shivpal Singh Yadav that it is a `choti-moti' issue that happens everywhere," the party said.

The CPI (M) said it was a matter of shame that even though 29 children and adolescents were reported missing from the village in the last two years, the administration showed criminal indifference. This was because the missing children were from extremely poor families, mainly migrant workers from Bengal and Bihar, Ms. Karat said. "The class bias and prejudice against the poor by the administration has clearly shown up."

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