The body of the man who was killed, at the district hospital in Noida on Thursday. (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha) The body of the man who was killed, at the district hospital in Noida on Thursday. (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha)

Responding to questions by the media regarding the dismal law and order situation in the state, a minister in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet said they never promised “zero crime” in Uttar Pradesh. “Itna bada pradesh hai, humne zero crime ki baat kabhi nahi ki (It is such a big state, we never promised zero crime),” Suresh Khanna, the Urban Development Minister in the Uttar Pradesh government was quoted as saying by NDTV on Thursday. However, he added that the government would ensure tough action against those behind the incident.

READ: Man shot, four women gangraped on highway to Bulandshahr: Police

Later on, however, the minister clarified his statements in an interview to news channel CNN-News 18 and said when he spoke about not being able to make Uttar Pradesh a crime-free state, he did not mean incidents of rape. He went on to say that the previous Samajwadi Party government “supported criminals”.

The minister’s statement comes a day after a man was shot dead while his wife, sister, mother-in-law and his driver’s wife were allegedly gangraped on the Jewar-Bulandshahr highway, near the Yamuna Expressway on Thursday. The victims were on their way to visit a relative in a Bulandshahr hospital and their vehicle came to a halt after it hit an axle placed on the road, making the driver stop.

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