The Lucknow police on July 30 (Thursday) arrested Congress leader Anoop Patel for allegedly abetting the self-immolation attempt by a mother-daughter duo from Amethi in front of UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s office on July 17.
On the night of July 17, the police had taken AIMIM leader Kadir Khan along with one Sultan and Asma into custody, while Anup Patel had fled away.
FIR registered against four, including Congress leader Anup Patel and AIMIM Kadir Khan
The Uttar Pradesh police had registered an FIR against four people including an AIMIM leader Kadir Khan and UP Congress spokesperson Anoop Patel after investigation revealed that a criminal conspiracy was hatched in which few people, including the two leaders, instigated the two women to set fire to themselves in protest against the government.
According to the doctors, the mother had suffered 80 per cent burns. She succumbed to her burn injuries on July 22.
Mother-daughter duo tried to self-immolate in front of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in Lucknow
The mother-Safia and her daughter named Gudiya had allegedly tried to self-immolate by setting themselves on fire on a busy road in front of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in Lucknow, allegedly over police inaction in a land dispute case in Amethi, which had resulted in a blame game against the Uttar Pradesh government.
The incident enkindle a spree of political allegations against Yogi Adityanath government
Opposition parties and their supporters had used the incident to launch a malicious campaign against the UP government accusing them of not addressing the concerns of the poor. Not just the Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati and former Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his sympathisers castigated the Yogi Adityanath government, but even Congress leaders and Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM party leaders took to social media to attack the Yogi Adityanath government.
However, much to the embarrassment of the Congress and AIMIM leaders, Lucknow police commissioner, Sujeet Pandey, later revealed that the duo was instigated to do so were non-other than the Congress leader Anup Patel and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) Kadir Khan.
Sujeet Pandey, Lucknow Police Commissioner, speaking to the media said, “It has come to light that it was done as per a criminal conspiracy in which some people played a key role in instigating the women. We have registered FIR against 4 people including an AIMIM leader Kadir Khan & a Congress leader Anup Patel”.