Akhilesh Yadav's comments came in the wake of the murder of a journalist and his brother in Saharanpur

Samajwadi Party leader and former Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday hit out at Yogi Adityanath government in the state, saying that the state which should be known as "Uttam Pradesh is now known as Hatya Pradesh".

Speaking to media, Mr Yadav slammed the state government for not being able to stop crime in the state saying the state which should be known as "the best state is now known as murder state."

His comments came in the wake of the murder of a journalist and his brother in Saharanpur today.

A journalist and his brother were shot dead during a fight between the two families in Madhonagar area in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur, said police.

The victims were identified as Ashish, who worked for a Hindi daily, and his brother Ashutosh.

"As per the information we have, two families living opposite each other got involved in a quarrel regarding throwing of cow dung. After a while, they started fighting with sticks. Some person believed to be from the other family shot Ashish and his brother," Superintendent of Police (City) Vineet Bhatnagar said.

"Both were admitted to a hospital where they succumbed to injuries. We are conducting further investigation in the matter," he added.

According to a relative of the victims, the accused belong to a family that runs a liquor business.