UP govt claims situation is not alarming, but there are still 20 murders a day

The Uttar Pradesh administration headed by Governor Romesh Bhandari says it is shocked by the allegation that the law and order situation in the state is deteriorating swiftly.

In an obvious rebuttal to Home Minister Indrajit Gupta's observation in Parliament on Tuesday that UP was heading towards anarchy, chaos and destruction, the state's chief secretary, in a letter to Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda's principal secretary and to the Union home ministry, said the number of murders had come down from 24 a day in 1994 to 22 per day in 1996 and 20 per day so far in the current year.

UP Chief Secretary Brijendra Sahai, in his letter, claimed that 1996 was a riot- free year in the state and that no communal incident had occurred. According to figures provided in Sahai's note, the state only registered an increase in the number of robberies and highway hold-ups. All other criminal activities, the civil servant claimed, had declined in comparison to 1994.

According to Sahai's note, 18,050 cases were registered during the period January 1 to February 15 against 18,015 and 19,888 cases during the same period in 1995 and 1996 respectively.

Special attention, he said, has been paid to prevent crime in the state, particularly against those belonging to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

Effective action has also been taken against the state's gangs, especially in eastern UP by invoking the provision of the National Security Act and the Gangsters Act.

A special criminal invesigation unit, he said, had been established in western UP to take action against kidnappers and highway robberies.