Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday met the family of Mohammed Akhlaq, who was lynched by a mob, and said the government will do everything to bring the guilty to book.Akhlaq, the father of an Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel, was dragged out of his house and killed in a Greater Noida village after rumours that he had consumed beef.He promised the distraught family all support from his government. Yadav told the media later that he shared the grief of the bereaved 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.He 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 that it was sad that after the gruesome incident last week in Bisahada village of Dadri, politics was now at play. "Pata nahin kisne ye zehar ghola hai (I do not know who has mixed this poison)" the chief minister said, referring to rumours of beef eating by the dead man that led to his killing.
The government had announced an ex-gratia of Rs.10 lakh to the family of Akhlaq initially. This amount was enhanced to Rs.20 lakh late Saturday.Also present in the meeting between the chief minister and the Akhlaq family was Uttar Pradesh Minority Welfare minister Mohd Azam Khan.Afzal, elder brother of the deceased, told the media that 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.The family is likely to meet Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav also.