Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 20 (ANI): After Uttar Pradesh Minister Sanjay Nishad was embroiled in a controversy over his remarks of 'breaking hands and legs of seven inspectors,' Congress leader Ajay Rai, heavily criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party and demanded an investigation into the matter.

Calling BJP leaders 'boastful', Rai told ANI, 'The people of Bharatiya Janata Party are quite boastful, and in that they destroy the government. Such a language is being spoken by a minister, I believe that (Chief Minister) Yogi should take cognisance of this and investigate this. Before this itself a party worker had accused him (Sanjay Nishad) but nothing happened then.'

'I believe that the people sitting in the government are immoral, they have nothing to do with the people, police works according to their signals,' the Congress leader added.

Rai further appealed to the police officials to 'understand' that even though the administration works on the behest of the ministers, they are the ones who are getting abused at the end.

'Police people should also understand that one works at the behest of them, lodging cases on their orders, using lathi (charge), do fake encounters and then these people themselves abuse the cops, I don't think any minister has ever used such a language on an official,' Rai told ANI.

Speaking about the recent Nagpur violence, he accused the Maharashtra government of 'deliberately' instigating violence.

'These things are sponsored, this is being done deliberately, first this issue was highlighted, then when a fire was lit and a curfew was imposed and incidents happened then such things are happening. The things happening across the country, whether in UP, Sambhal or Nagpur, wherever it is it being done deliberately,' the Congress leader said.

Criticising the state government further he said that the party leaders are just trying to save face and send an innocent party worker to jail over it

'Whenever something gets out of control then they get innocent karyakartas who work for them day and night then they trap them in these cases and send them to jail and I believe they try to spin the incidents,' he said.

'It is all sponsored, Why did the government not investigate reports of people coming in with effigies? When they were with the effigies representing Aurangzeb then why did they not investigate? After a curfew was imposed in 11 areas then they are doing this investigation to save face,' he added.

Earlier on March 19, Sanjay Nishad, while speaking to ANI clarified his 'breaking the hands and legs of seven inspectors' statement and said it was made in self-defence during a 2015 rail protest.

'There is another aspect to why I made this statement. I gave this statement because, on 7th June 2015, during the rail movement, the protectors became the predators. When we were on the railway land, the CRPF would come there. It was the land of the central government with central security. The state government forcibly started firing on us. If the protectors become predators, then anything will have to be done in self-defence,' Nishad said.

Meanwhile in Nagpur, the Maharashtra Cyber cell has identified individuals who posted provocative content on social media amid recent violence in Nagpur. Authorities have stated that notices are being sent to these individuals as part of their investigation. (ANI)