SP man killed, Mulayam says Maya wants blood

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New Delhi: One student was killed in police firing in former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's village and several people were injured in clashes that broke out in the state on Wednesday following an alleged attack on the Samajwadi Party (SP) leader's son and brother the day before.

While one person – a member of Samajwadi Party’s youth wing Samajwadi Chhatrasabha – was killed when police opened fire on students in village Saifai, several students were injured in similar crackdowns in Etawah, Mainpuri and also in Lucknow, reports said.

While authorities admitted to the death of a student in the firing, they refused to take responsibility for the killing.

The statewide protests were provoked after Mulayam’s son and MP Akhilesh Yadav and brother Shivpal Yadav were allegedly roughed up by police on Tuesday.

"We have to look at the picture in totality, so I am not in a position to tell you right away as to who was responsible for the student's death," Principal Home Secretary J N Chamber was quoted as saying by IANS.

Mulayam has alleged if Mayawati has her way, she can get his son and brother killed.

"Mayawati can go to such an extent that she can kill Akhilesh or Shivpal. Mayawati has tried to kill the agitating students. We will take this protest forward and launch state wide protest ," he said.

"The present BSP government has hatched a conspiracy to target the SP leaders and it was an effort to eliminate them through such action," he added.

The UP Police beat up Akhilesh and Shivpal when the two were protesting along with their party workers in Lucknow.

The attack on the SP workers, who were holding a demonstration against the ban on students’ union elections in colleges, marks a new low in the rivalry between UP Chief Minister Mayawati and Mulayam.

The incident occurred after Shivpal, a former minister in the Mulayam government, arrived outside the local SSP's residence along with Akhilesh and several Samajwadi Party supporters to protest the arrest of the students from a hospital earlier in the day.

The students were protesting at the Jai Narain Post Graduate College against Mayawati government’s decision to ban students’ union elections.

They were reportedly lathicharged by the police, sent to the hospital and then arrested from there.

This apparently angered the senior SP leader, who went to the SSP residence on Tuesday and sat on a dharna.

The police personnel asked the agitators to vacate the area and protest through “proper channels”. But when Shivpal and other refused to heed, they were forcibly pushed into waiting vans.

It was then that a member of Shivpal’s personal security team reportedly had a scuffle with some of the police personnel. The situation spiraled out of control when - in midst of trying to push Shivpal into the police van - one of the police constable allegedly slapped Shivpal and pushed him into the van.

One Samajwadi Party worker was reportedly killed and several others were injured in the drama that continued for nearly 40 minutes. "We were trying to put forward our grievances peacefully. But the police started hitting us. They dragged us into the waiting jeeps and buses. When students spoke, they were beaten up too. They are in a critical state," alleged Shivpal Yadav.

The party has launched a state-wide agitation against the action and is demanding CM’s resignation over the issue.

“Police are to blame, they started it. They hit the gunmen, snatched arms from them and lathicahrged us,” alleged Akhilesh.

Ironically, lawlessness had become a huge problem when Mulayam himself was in power and was ridiculed for coming out with a promotional ad starring Amitabh Bachchan. Mayawati had made the deteriorating law and order situation one of her main election planks.