The gang rape and murder took place in a village school just seven km from village where former US president Bill Clinton was visiting on Thursday.

A young woman was brutally gang raped and killed on the outskirts of Lucknow on Wednesday night, even as tight security was in place in the area ahead of the visit of former US president Bill Clinton.

The crime took place in Mohanlalganj near Lucknow, police said.

The woman was brutally stabbed in her private parts. The scene of the crime, a primary school in Balsinghkheda village, had blood all over indicating that the victim may have been dragged by the rapists through the courtyard, police told IANS.

The incident came to light when the school opened on Thursday morning. The area was immediately sanitized and the children were sent home.

The gang rape and murder took place barely seven km from Jabrauli village where Clinton arrived on Thursday afternoon. The woman was identified only on Friday. Though the post-mortem report was not in, officials said on Thursday that prima facie the cause of death was excessive bleeding from her private parts due to to the stab injuries.

Shockingly, while opposition parties slammed the UP Police for the incident, senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and Rajya Sabha member Naresh Agarwal blamed it on the "strange love of media for UP" that the issue was being blown out of proportion. "I do not know why the media loves UP so much. We can also say such an incident has taken place in Bangalore, Rajasthan and New Delhi... law and order is very good in UP," he told television channels while reacting to the gang rape and murder in Lucknow.

The opposition alleged that the government had become indifferent to the growing number of crimes. "Where is law in the state?" questioned state BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak.

He alleged that the state government has given in to criminals as was evident from the brutality with which Wednesday's rape was committed in a high-security zone right under the nose of the police.

"If such a horrifying incident can take place in a high-security zone where a former US president is visiting, little can be said of places elsewhere in the state," the BJP leader said.

Bahujan Samaj Party leader Swamy Prasad Maurya demanded the dismissal of the Samajwadi Party government, saying that while crimes against women were growing, the people in power were displaying a casual attitude towards it.

"They are neither bothered nor outraged that such heinous crimes are on the rise. It appears the state government is protecting and patronizing criminals and the mafia," he said.

Condemning the incident, Congress leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi said the state government should show promptness in bringing the law and order situation under control and check crimes against women.

"It is indeed a very shocking incident and only goes to show how criminals are having a free run in the state under the Samajwadi Party government," she said.

Through Friday, the Lucknow Police failed to make any headway in the case.

While police officials claimed to have identified the deceased as an employee of Sanjay Gandhi Post-graduate Medical Institute (SGPGI), the four special teams formed to apprehend the assailants found no success.

The state government ordered suspension of the station house officer and another policeman late Thursday night for failing to "follow basic rules in such cases".

Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Lucknow, Navneit Sikera told IANS that senior officials had taken a grim view of the delays and mishandling of the case by policemen, and suspended the errant officials at Mohanlalganj police station.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav summoned DGP A.L. Banerjee, Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan and Principal Secretary (Home) Rakesh Bahadur and took a briefing on the incident.

Sutapa Sanyal, nodal officer of Crimes against Women Wing of the UP Police has been assigned the task of cracking the case and investigating the matter, an official said.

Sanyal, an ADG, told the media that it has been inferred that more than one person was involved in the crime. "Forensic teams are on the job and we hope things will be worked out soon," she added.

Agencies.