Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Police Director General Jagmohan Yadav on Tuesday courted controversy by saying that “rapes were committed even during the Ram Rajya”.

Responding to a question by a young reporter on increasing number of sexual assault cases, Yadav asked him to meet him in private to get an answer to the question.

Yadav, who is set to retire this month, told a press conference here that rapes were a common phenomenon happening in all states. He said police were unable to completely stop crimes against women.

In the past too, Yadav has stirred controversies but the state government has paid no heed to it owing to the police officer`s alleged proximity to the family of Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.

BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak termed the DGP`s remarks “loose, unwarranted, cheap and irresponsible”.

“While what Jagmohan Yadav said is condemnable, I think powers that be need to answer why they do not act against such officials,” the BJP leader said.

(Agencies)