Janjivan Bureau / New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a rally that the Uttar Pradesh government under Akhilesh Yadav had withdrawn several cases against terrorists. The Samajwadi Party government withdrew cases against several terrorists accused of terror attacks in Uttar Pradesh. The terrorists carried out blasts across the state and the SP government did not allow trials against them the PM also said.
The issue was earlier raised by BJP president, J P Nadda as well. He said that cases were withdrawn but the court did not allow it. Four of them were sentenced to death and others were given life imprisonment and this is the real face of Yadav, he also said. A year after Akhilesh Yadav became chief minister in 2012, he decided to withdraw terror cases as promised in his poll manifesto. 14 such cases were to be withdrawn. The order was however stayed by the Allahabad High Court. The SP government then filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court and the matter is still pending. Of these 14 cases, 8 ended in acquittal for want of evidence or the judge giving them the benefit of doubt. However 4 of them were convicted, while the trial in one case is still on. UP polls 2022: Close contest between BJP, SP on the cards in SarojininagarUP polls 2022: Among these included four persons charged under POTA for allegedly leaking information about troop movement during the Kargil War. The other case related to the Rampur CRPF attack case. The SP government decided to drop charges and in 2014, four were acquitted for want of evidence. The other case pertained to the Gorakhpur blast of 2007 and the SP government decided to withdraw these cases as well. The accused was awarded life imprisonment and the case is now pending in the High COurt. The government back then had written a 13-point letter to the respective district administrations in whose jurisdiction these people were booked – asking the district magistrate, superintendent of police and government prosecuting officer in each case if the charges can be dropped in ‘public interest. These are matters to be decided in court as there is a process of law involved in it. The blasts were major in nature. Varanasi fell victim to multiple terror attacks between 2005 and 2007. The cases of one of the accused in the Varanasi blast, one in Bijnor, eight in Lucknow, three in the Kanpur blast, one in the Rampur attack and one in the Barambaki strike were sought to be withdrawn by the then SP government.
