No govt can ensure crime-free society: UP minister on G Noida

Uttar Pradesh minister Suresh Kumar Khanna today said police cannot be deployed everywhere and no government can ensure a crime-free society, remarks that could trigger a political controversy.

He made the statement hours after four women were allegedly gang-raped and a man was shot dead by a group of armed criminals on the Jewar-Bulandshahr highway.

"We will take strictest possible action in the incident that occurred on the highway.

"There cannot be a completely crime-free society... But the BJP government does not patronize criminals, like the previous governments did," he told media persons here.

The incident, which is a horrific reminder of last year's Bulandshahr gangrape, took place near Sabota village in Jewar around 1.40 am when the eight people were going to visit a relative undergoing treatment at a hospital in Bulandshahr in western Uttar Pradesh.

SSP, Gautam Budh Nagar, Love Kumar said a gang of five robbers targeted the vehicle after the driver stopped it near a roadside hut to fix a flat tyre.

The occupants were attacked and, along with an old man who was in the hut, taken to a nearby field. The women were misbehaved with and a man was shot dead when he resisted, he said.

The Yogi Adityanath government is facing flak over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)