Uttar Pradesh Forest Minister Arun Kumar and other BJP leaders from Bareilly, deemed the police action against a group of kanwariyas in the Jogi Navada area the previous day as “unfortunate,” vowing to investigate the incident.
Kumar, the BJP MLA from Bareilly assembly, along with Sanjeev Agarwal, BJP MLA from Bareilly Cantonment, and Mayor Umesh Gautam, met with senior police and administrative officials at the local circuit house.
On Sunday, police used lathi (baton) charges to disperse a group of kanwariyas who insisted on taking an unauthorised route for their procession, leading to a standoff that lasted around six hours, as per officials.
Expressing disapproval of the police’s actions, Kumar demanded that the guilty parties be held accountable. He stated, “If they (‘kanwariyas’) are going through the government (approved) route, then security should be provided to them. The incidents which took place in Jogi Navada are unfortunate,” promising a thorough probe into the matter.
The officials present at the meeting assured the minister of maintaining peace and order and refraining from discrimination against anyone.
Criticising the Bareilly police, Agarwal noted that while the Yogi Adityanath government was “showering flowers on devotees of Lord Shiva and ‘kanwariyas’,” local law enforcement was “wielding batons on them.”
