The Hindu : Front Page : No law and order in U.P., say Sonia and Vajpayee

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Sunday, Jan 07, 2007
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No law and order in U.P., say Sonia and Vajpayee

Special Correspondent

CBI should ensure comprehensive, time-bound probe: Brinda Karat

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. At right, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat talks to t he victims. — Photos: AP, V.V. Krishnan

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

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee demanded Central intervention in the State following the unfolding of the horrific killings of little children in Noida's Nithari village.

"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 in UP ahead of the upcoming elections in the State.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat along with the party's Delhi State Committee members also visited Nithari and met the families of the victims.

Last week the party had held demonstrations and demanded a CBI probe into the killings.

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

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

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 of the case including the suspicion of involvement of a bigger gang linked to the human organs 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 UP Government has responded to the national outrage such as the statement of PWD Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav that it is a `chhoti-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 past 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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