BJP giving 'undue importance' to Gorakhpur temple attack incident: Akhilesh Yadav

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday slammed the Yogi Adityanath over the handling of Ahmed Murtaza Abbasi who had attacked two security personnel at Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur. Criticising the BJP for giving “undue importance” to the incident, Akhilesh said that the government should "consider that the father of the accused has said that his son was of 'unsound' mental health and 'unstable' state of mind".

Ahmed Murtaza, a 30-year-old IIT graduate, had on Sunday tried to enter the Gorakhnath temple premises and when the security personnel tried to stop him, he attacked them with a sickle, injuring two constables of the Provincial Armed Constabulary.

"His father has said that he had some psychiatric problems and has bipolar issues. I think that aspect shall also be seen," Akhilesh said. "BJP believes in making a mountain out of a molehill,” he added.

The case is currently being investigated by a joint team of Special Task Force (STF) and Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) of UP Police. Investigators suspect that Abbasi was “self-radicalised”.

Gorakhnath temple premises also house the residence of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is the head priest of the temple. The CM was not inside at the time of the attack.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya lashed out at Akhilesh saying "his party has always been linked to terrorists".

"Akhilesh Yadav ji and Samajwadi Party has always been linked to terrorists. He took back cases during the 2013 terrorism attacks... the Gorakhnath temple attack is not ordinary, it was very serious. I condemn his attempts to boost the morale of terrorists," Maurya said.

"Akhilesh ji shouldn't so openly pass comments on an accused. He is a former CM. Our security personnel caught him by risking their lives after he was linked to terrorist organisations. His statement is cheap amd deplorable. Samajwadi Party will become 'Samapt' party," he added.