Ex-DGP denies Cong charge of weak policing during his tenure | Lucknow News

Lucknow: BJP MP and former UP DGP Brij Lal on Thursday refuted Congress allegation of UP Police being weak under him and termed the party’s charge as ‘false and misleading’.Taking a jibe at the MP, Congress spokesman Surendra Rajput had said that during a 2009 encounter in UP’s Chitrakoot, police led by Lal took three days to neutralise gangster Ghanshyam Kewat despite all means at their disposal and presence of more than 800 police personnel. In a statement, Brij Lal said the encounter took place in June 2009 in Jamouli village of Chitrakoot and lasted nearly 52 hours, from June 16 to 18, and was broadcast live on TV, with footage still available publicly.Lal, who was the then ADG (Law & Order), Crime, STF, and ATS, said four police personnel were martyred, while several others, including senior officers, sustained serious injuries. Lal said he had reached the encounter site after 28 hours when morale of force was beginning to decline. “On the night of June 17, I surrounded Jamouli village, and the final assault began the next morning. Advancing within a 20–25-foot range along with two gunners, I engaged the notorious criminal Ghanshyam Kewat, who had an AK-47 and grenades, and neutralised him,” Brij Lal said.Lal warned the Congress spokesman to refrain from “irresponsible statements” and not disrespect the sacrifices of fallen police personnel.Rajput had criticised Brij Lal’s claim in the Rajya Sabha regarding the success of the “Yogi model” in Uttar Pradesh, terming them as “mere rhetoric and sycophancy.” “Brij Lal should refrain from indulging in hollow rhetoric and flattery. We have seen during his tenure (as DGP) how much he fought against mafia or how much he feared them,” Rajput had said.The Rajya Sabha MP also accused the Samajwadi Party of oppressing Dalits and claimed during the tenure of Akhilesh Yadav, over one lakh Dalit officials and employees were demoted across administrative ranks in UP.Lal alleged that SP’s current outreach towards Dalits is deceptive and claimed the community would not be misled.