IANS/Lucknow

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav yesterday met the family of Mohamed Akhlaq, who was lynched by a mob, and said the government would do everything to bring the guilty to book.
Akhlaq was dragged out of his home and killed in a Greater Noida village after rumours that he had eaten beef. Yadav promised the distraught family support from his government.
The chief minister said later that he shared the grief of the family and would do everything to bring the guilty to book.
“Though we cannot bring back what has been snatched from the family, I assured them that in this hour of grief and even in future the government will stand by their side,” he said.
Yadav added that the government would give the family a house. Asked if a job would be given to a family member of the victim, the chief minister said if there was a request, it would be considered.
He also said it was sad that after the gruesome incident last week in Bisahada village of Dadri, politics was now at play.
“I do not know who has mixed this poison,” the chief minister said, referring to rumours that Akhlaq had eaten beef leading to his killing.
The government had announced compensation of Rs1mn to the family of Akhlaq initially. It was increased to Rs2mn late Saturday.
Also present in the meeting between the chief minister and the Akhlaq family was Uttar Pradesh Minority Welfare Minister Azam Khan. Afzal, the elder brother of the victim, said the family wanted justice.
“We have come to the government so that we get justice,” he said even as his mother sobbed and the daughter and son-in-law of Akhlaq watched on.
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party yesterday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence over the killing, and demanded a probe against federal minister Mahesh Sharma for “supporting the communal frenzy.”
“The prime minister has chosen to selectively remain silent on the issue which in turn is a mute support to the BJP’s colonels on the ground to make the maximum out of the communal divide,” the AAP said a statement.
It said the Bharatiya Janata Party was fomenting trouble in Dadri, Delhi’s suburban town in Uttar Pradesh, and the party’s role in the incident was established after the arrest of the son of a party leader.
Sharma, the Lok Sabha member from Gautam Buddha Nagar within which Dadri area falls, “has covertly and overtly supported the communal frenzy,” the AAP added.
“AAP demands urgent intervention of the Centre in Dadri and seeks that the prime minister should come out clear and mention if he supports the incident or will he take strict action against the elements who are out to destroy the harmony and unity in the society.”