New Delhi, May 24: The Congress today said some sections of the society had presumed they were above the law ever since the BJP formed the government in Uttar Pradesh and cited recent incidents of violence in the heartland state as manifestations of this mindset.

"This is happening because of one single reason - that certain sections of the society in Uttar Pradesh believe that with Yogi Adityanath becoming the chief minister, they have got the licence to indulge in hooliganism, to oppress Dalits (and) to commit crimes," K. Raju, the chairman of the Congress's Scheduled Caste department, said.

"They do not fear the law because they think that the chief minister will provide protection," Raju added.

The comments came a day after masked, gun-wielding men attacked Dalit villagers returning from a meeting that Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati addressed yesterday in violence-hit Shabbirpur in Saharanpur district, leaving one person dead.

Mayawati was in Shabbirpur village to meet Dalit victims of an earlier attack by Kshatriyas (Thakurs) who had torched the homes and farms of 55 poor Scheduled Caste men following a clash between members of the two castes on May 5.

Congress spokesperson and tribal leader Bhakta Charan Das said the violence was a major concern. "Since the day Yogi became chief minister, certain outfits started behaving as extra-constitutional authorities. The anti-Romeo squad, cow-protection groups, Hindu Yuva Vahini are some examples," he added.

"The way people of a particular caste were mobilised, over 3,000 people, for a demonstration and Dalits were attacked, their houses set on fire... it must be a planned offensive. They talked of sabka saath, sabka vikas (support for all, developmentof all) and are now targeting the weaker sections."

Das, who met party vice-president Rahul Gandhi today along with tribal leaders from different states, said repeated attacks could not happen "without the government's connivance".

"Should an elected government show such bias against any community? The BJP is in power both at the Centre and in the state and they should introspect why Babasaheb Ambedkar's statue triggers such widespread violence in their rule," he said.

Vandals had last week damaged a statue of the Dalit icon and architect of the Indian Constitution in Saharanpur.

Raju said the administration was "duty-bound" to immediately provide relief, rehabilitation and compensation to the Dalit victims under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. "All the accused will have to be arrested and the government has to set up a special court as envisioned in this law."

He asked the chief minister to convene a meeting of the vigilance and monitoring committee as required by the law and appealed to Adityanath to act in a way that instilled confidence among the victims.

Das demanded an independent probe to find out the genesis of the trouble.