Ghazipur (UP), Feb 8 (IANS): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday reiterated that there is no place for any mafia in the state and said that he has vowed to eliminate such elements.

The Chief Minister, while addressing a programme in Ghazipur, said, "Our government is constantly moving towards wiping out the entire mafia culture which hindered the development of Purvanchal for long. Previous governments patronised mafia and criminals in the state due to which the development of the state received a massive setback."

Adityanath was here to review the progress of the 340-km Purvanchal Expressway.

He said, "There is no place for those who give patronage to the mafias, criminal and other rogue elements in the new Uttar Pradesh of 'Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat'. While we are working towards the welfare of villages, farmers, youth, and development, on the other hand, it is also very important to destroy the mafia culture that has become a hindrance to the development of Purvanchal."

The Yogi government has already seized illegal assets worth about Rs 1,000 crore of more than 40 mafia elements including Mukhtar Ansari, Ateeq Ahmad, Vijay Mishra, Sundar Bhati and others.

The state government is also demolishing illegal properties of mafia dons and their close aides. Cases have been registered against 800 gangsters and their close associates.