Cong charges Mulayam govt. with politicising STF

Lucknow, Nov 19 (UNI) The Congress today charged the ruling Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh with politicising the elite Special Task Force (STF).

The party alleged that the special police unit which ''once used to send shivers down the spines of hardened criminals, was now politicised to suit the requirements of the ruling dispensation.'' The Congress claimed that for the last three years, the STF was being used to help bring criminals close to the Samajwadi Party.

''Now instead of being Special Task Force, the STF stands for 'Samajwadi Task Force','' said UP Congress chief spokesperson Akhilesh Pratap Singh.

''Circumstantial evidence prove the state government hand behind the high-profile abduction of Adobe (India) CEO Naresh Gupta's three-year-old son Anant in Noida on November 13,'' state Congress president Salman Khurshid said here.

The STF, which untiredly patted its back following recovery of Anant from the clutches of abductors on November 17, was on the retreat after the ransom money was recovered and the announcement was made by IG, Meerut (Zone).

Mr Khurshid minced no words in flaying the statement of Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh that the Anant kidnapping case was not related to law and order.

''The statement of Mr Singh is an ample evidence to prove the hand of the state government in the crime,'' he said, adding ''Agar yeh law and order ka nahi to kya art and culture ka mamala hai (If not related to law and order, is it related to arts and culture).'' The Congress leader maintained that, police was trying to hush up the crime and was issuing contradictory statements, which indicated 'political' involvement in the abduction.

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