Hitting out at his ministerial colleague Om Prakash Rajbhar, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that some leaders wanted to remain in limelight and therefore issued statements.

"Om Prakash Rajbhar always wants to be in news and therefore issues such statements. One should not take him seriously," Maurya told a select group of journalists in Lucknow on Wednesday.

Suheldeo Bharatiya Samaj Party president and UP Cabinet minister Om Prakash Rajbhar had said that the Bulandshahr incident, in which a police inspector was among the two killed, was the handiwork of right wing Hindu outfits. He even said that it was an attempt to foment communal tension in the state in view of the 2019 Lok Sabha poll.

Maurya said that Rajbhar did not know the full facts.

"It is wrong to name any outfit behind this incident so early. Police probes are on and the culprits will be arrested soon. Clear directions have been given to the police not to spare anyone," the Deputy Chief Minister said.

"At the face of it this looks like a conspiracy to defame the government. The probe will bring out the truth," Maurya said

When asked about the terror threat in Uttar Pradesh, particularly at Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi, the Deputy Chief Minister said that Congress had patronised terrorism during its regime.

"But in the (Narendra) Modi rule, the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government has reined in terror activities," he said.

"Rahul Gandhi should be reminded by his leaders that he is a national leader and should not talk like state or district president of the Congress," Maurya said.

Another UP Cabinet minister, Moti Singh, also asked Rajbhar to restrain from issuing any statement on government functioning.

"Om Prakash is a good friend. Probably he does not know the full facts," Singh said.