Kanpur encounter 'extremely sad, shameful and unfortunate': Mayawati

BSP chief Mayawati on Friday called the encounter at Kanpur, that resulted in the killing of 8 police personnel, as "extremely sad, shameful and unfortunate".

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati on Friday called the encounter at Kanpur, that resulted in the killing of 8 police personnel, as "extremely sad, shameful and unfortunate".

In a series of tweets in Hindi, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister urged the state government to be "more robust" with regard to the law and order situation in the state.

"The incident where 8 policemen including deputy SP were killed and seven others who were injured in an encounter by vicious criminals in Kanpur today is extremely sad, shameful and unfortunate. It is clear that the UP government needs to be more robust, especially in the matter of law and order," she tweeted.

The BSP chief further said that the state government must provide a proper ex-gratia and employment to a member of the family of the deceased police officers.

"For this sensational incident, the government must not spare the criminals at any cost even if there is a need to carry out a special operation. The government should provide the family of the deceased police with proper ex-gratia amount as well as job to any family member, this is the demand of BSP," read her second tweet.

A total of eight police personnel including Deputy Superintendent of Police Devendra Mishra have lost their lives after they were fired upon by criminals in the early hours of Friday.

The incident took place when a police team had gone to raid history-sheeter Vikas Dubey's house.

Senior Superintendent of Police and Inspector General of Police have reached the spot and the forensics team is examining the area.