Hope you did not face any danger: defiant Akhilesh Yadav over law and order situation

Kanpur: "I hope you have not faced any danger," shot back Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday when asked about the law and order situation in the state in the backdrop of the Badaun rape and murder case and the Azamgarh gangrape incident.

Yadav, who was here on a visit, said arrests have been made in the gangrape and murder of two Dalit sisters in Badaun and action was also being taken against guilty police officials.

Asked what was his view on the law and order situation in UP in the wake of the incident, he retorted, "I hope you have not faced any danger!"

When the journalist said, "No", the Chief Minister said, "Thank you. You should propagate this."

Yadav said a new police control room has come up in Kanpur and added that no other state government has such a set-up.

(Read: 10 rapes reported daily in Uttar Pradesh on an average: NCRB)

As outrage spread over the horrific gang rape of two Dalit sisters in the district, authorities on Friday, sacked two constables in connection with the crime even as police arrested another accused in the case.

The action came three days after the girls were gangraped and their bodies were found hanging from a tree. SP Atul Kumar Saxena said the services of two constables Chhatrapal Yadav and Sarvesh Yadav have been terminated.

"One more accused Awadhesh Yadav has been arrested by the police," he said.

Of the seven wanted in the case, three (policeman Sarvesh Yadav and brothers Pappu and Awadhesh Yadav) have been arrested so far, he said. Sarvesh and Pappu were arrested on Thursday.

Four others Urvesh Yadav (brother of Pappu and Awadhesh), policeman Chhatrapal Yadav and two unidentified persons are at large. The two girls, who were cousins and aged 14 and 15, went missing from their house on the night of May 27 and their bodies were found hanging from a mango tree in the village in Ushait area the next morning.

The incident had triggered protests in the area with villagers alleging police apathy, following which an FIR was registered against seven persons.

The postmortem report of the two girls confirmed that they were raped before murder, Saxena had said. Sarvesh and Chhatrpal have been booked under section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC, while the three brothers, Pappu, Awadhesh and Urvesh, and two others have been booked under Section 302 (murder) and 376 (rape) of IPC.

A team of National Commission for Women (NCW) visited the village on Friday where two Dalit sisters were gangraped and murdered and held the local police responsible for the incident.

"The girls lost their lives due to lax attitude of police. Had the policemen not ignored the complaint of victims' family, the incident would not have taken place," NCW member Shamina Shaifq told reporters.

She said the Commission would do whatever it could to ensure stern action against the guilty.

The members of the NCW team also met police and district administration officials but did not elaborate much about their meeting.

BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya, BJP MPs Krishnaraj, Dharmpal and Dharmendra Kashyap also visited the village and met family members of victims.

Maurya said the matter would be raised in the state Assembly if the government did not recommend a CBI probe.

The BJP delegation also favoured CBI probe and promised all possible help to their family members.