Yogi govt withdraws rioting case against 81 persons except UP Congress chief Ajay Rai

Varanasi, Oct 6 : A special court here has allowed the Uttar Pradesh government to drop charges against 81 people in a 2015 rioting case, except State Congress Chief Ajay Rai.

The MP-MLA Courts order came after the BJP government decided to withdraw the charges against 81 of the 82 accused in the case.

Among the 81 people whose charges have been dropped are Uttar Pradesh Minister Dayashankar Mishra Dayalu and some Hindu saints.

The court of Special Judge Avanish Gautam ordered withdrawal of the case against 81 accused, except Rai, government counsel Vinay Singh said.

The case was lodged at Dashashwamedh police station here against 82 people, including Ajay Rai, on charges of rioting, arson, attempt to murder, and damaging government property after violence broke out during the Anyay Pratikar Yatra in 2015.

Rais advocate, Anuj Singh, termed the courts order "biased" and said that they will approach the Allahabad High Court against it.

Ajay Rai, in a statement, said, "For them (BJP) the word Sanatan is not a symbol of any faith and belief, but merely a weapon of political vengeance.This was completely proved when this anti-Sanatan government filed a case against 82 people who were involved in the Anyay Pratikar Yatra, a protest march against the suppression of present Shankaracharya in Kashi in 2015.

Except me, the government sought the withdrawal of cases against 81 others."

He hit out at the Yogi Adityanath government, saying he is not going to be deterred by the "discriminatory action" of the state government.

The Congress leader said the government argued in the court that there were other cases against him, but many of the 81 people who got acquitted "due to political affiliation" were also facing additional cases.

"Whatever cases are against me, they are related to political movements against injustice," the State Congress Chief added.

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