In his first address since the murders of Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath stated that his government has kept the state riot-free. On Tuesday, Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, claimed that no one in the state could longer be frightened by the mafia. The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh (UP) declared that before 2017, the state’s law and order was worse and that daily riots used to occur in the state. 

This was his first speech following the double murder of Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf. According to him, since his administration took office in 2017, there haven’t been any riots in Uttar Pradesh. The CM declared that his administration has rid the state of riots. He claimed that although there was a time when the identity of Uttar Pradesh was obliterated, today, no one was unaware of the state’s progress. Additionally, he noted that UP now has fantastic connectivity. He continued by saying that in UP, every investor’s capital would be safeguarded.

“Earlier there was a crisis for the identity of the state, today the state is becoming a crisis for them,” the CM mentioned in the speech. In letters sent to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, wife Shaista Parveen requested that the CBI or judicial system look into the killing of Umesh Pal three days after gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother were shot dead during a media interview in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. 

She claimed in two different letters that Pal’s death was unjustified and that Atiq, his brother Ashraf, and his kids had been wrongly accused of the crime.  A crucial witness in the 2005 murder case involving Raju Pal, Umesh Pal, was assassinated on February 24 in front of his home in Prayagraj.  According to Parveen, who is one of the suspects and has been hiding out ever since, Cabinet Minister Nand Gopal Gupta, commonly known as “Nandi,” was the main organiser of the murder of Umesh Pal, hence an investigation was required. Gupta is the current Prayagraj MLA.

She also claimed that the Prayagraj Police were acting under Gupta’s influence in the letter she sent to CM Adityanath on February 27. She added the names of STF ADG Amitabh Yash and Prayagraj Commissioner Ramit Sharma, both of whom she claimed had plans to kill Atiq and Ashraf. “If you (CM Adityanath) don’t intervene, my husband, brother-in-law, and sons would be killed,” she wrote in the letter. On Saturday night, while being escorted by police to a Prayagraj medical college for a checkup, Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at close range by three guys posing as journalists.