By IANS,
Lucknow : Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh Tuesday wrote to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav seeking his “immediate and personal” intervention in withdrawing cases against Bhatta-Parsaul farmers who were booked for various charges during the land acquisition-related protests.
In the one-page letter, Singh has pointed out that before the recent assembly elections, the Samajwadi Party had supported the farmers of Bhatta-Parsaul in their fight against land acquisition by the then Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government.
“There was palpable anger against the atrocities on the farmers. After you came to power there was widespread belief that the cases would be withdrawn against the farmers and their leader Manveer Singh Teotia,” he said, demanding that the state government immediately withdraw the cases slapped on the farmers and release them from jails.
Five farmers were killed at Ghodi Bachheda in Greater Noida in 2008 when police opened fire on a group of farmers who were seeking greater price for their land acquired for the Yamuna Expressway. Another five farmers were killed in 2010 at Aligarh’s Tappal, while two farmers and two policemen were killed at Bhatta-Parsaul in Greater Noida when clashes broke out over land acquisition by the Yamuna Expressway Authority.
Earlier last month, the Samajwadi Party government had withdrawn criminal cases slapped against 24 farmers during the Mayawati rule for violence at Tappal.