A day after the horrific murder and gangrape incident at the Jewar-Bulandshahr road off the Yamuna Expressway, a top minister in the Yogi Adityanath government said today that ensuring zero crime in a state as big as Uttar Pradesh is an improbable task.

"Itna bada pradesh hai, humne kabhi zero crime ki baat nahi ki thi. Lekin koi bhi apraadhi ho, use saza milegi. (Ours is a huge state, we never claimed that we will ensure zero crime. But I assure you criminals won't go scott free," minister Suresh Khanna said.

The minister made the statement hours after four women were allegedly gang-raped and a man was shot dead by a group of armed criminals on the Jewar-Bulandshahr highway.

Khanna's statement is likely to trigger a row as the Opposition is already criticising the Yogi Adityanath government over its failure to control communal clashes in Saharanpur. The incident, which is a horrific reminder of last year's Bulandshahr gangrape, took place near Sabota village in Jewar around 1.40 am when the eight people were going to visit a relative undergoing treatment at a hospital in Bulandshahr in western Uttar Pradesh.

SSP, Gautam Budh Nagar, Love Kumar said a gang of five robbers targeted the vehicle after the driver stopped it near a roadside hut to fix a flat tyre.

The occupants were attacked and, along with an old man who was in the hut, taken to a nearby field. The women were misbehaved with and a man was shot dead when he resisted, he said.

The Yogi Adityanath government is facing flak over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

(With PTI inputs)

WATCH: Man shot dead, four women gangraped by robbers on Jewar-Bulandshahr highwa ALSO READ:

UP: Man killed, women gangraped as gang attacks family on Bulandshahr-Jewar highway

Jewar-Bulandshahr case: Discrepancies spotted, police suspect personal enmity or property dispute