UP: Even student leaders get protection here!

The Uttar Pradesh government has provided security cover to at least 296 people in state capital Lucknow alone, out of which over 25 have criminal or other cases pending against them.

Those provided with security include retired and serving judges, bureaucrats, police officers, businessmen, politicians and student leaders.

In a written reply to a question in the state legislative assembly recently, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav informed that till June, 2006 there were 296 people from the state capital who were extended security cover. Out of these, security cover to six had since been withdrawn.

Union Minister of State Akhilesh Das, ministers in the Mulayam Singh Cabinet Ahmad Hasan, Ashok Bajpai, Vinod Yadav 'Kakka', Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman Hriday Narain Dixit, Congress leader Fazle

Masood, BJP legislator Kusum Rai, former chief minister Ram Naresh Yadav's son Kamlesh, relatives of Congress legislature party leader Pramod Tewari, and a large number of people associated with the ruling Samajwadi Party are under security cover.

State Civil Supplies Minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh's mother too has security cover.

Those against whom criminal cases have been registered are mostly student leaders, including Vijay Singh 'Pintoo', Rajpal Kashyap, Ram Singh Rana, Mohammad Aibad, Tej Narain Pandey and Abhishek Singh 'Ashu'.

Others, against whom criminal cases were pending, include SP Rajya Sabha member Bhagwati Singh, former SP member Aruna Shankar Shukla alias 'Anna', Sahara India's O P Srivastava, Vidhan Sabha member Kaushal Kishore, Kailash Shankar Shukla, Faqir Siddiqui and former legislator Ravidas Mehrotra.