Attack on Nandi: Cops arrest SP MLA from Delhi

In a major breakthrough in the case of bomb attack on Nand Gopal Gupta 'Nandi',in which The Indian Express staffer Vijay Pratap Singh was fatally wounded.

In a major breakthrough in the case of bomb attack on Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’,in which The Indian Express staffer Vijay Pratap Singh was fatally wounded,the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force on Tuesday arrested Samajwadi Party MLA Vijay Mishra from Delhi.

Mishra,who represents Sant Ravidas Nagar in the Assembly,carried a reward of Rs 2.5 lakh on his head since he was named as the key conspirator behind the blast near Nandi’s house on July 12 last year.

The explosion had caused the death of Vijay Pratap Singh and a BSP activist Rakesh Malviya.Five others,including Nandi,were injured critically.

The Allahabad police had earlier arrested 12 accused who included Dilip Mishra,Mahendra Mishra,Manoj Pandey,Jitendra Pandey,Purshottam Dubey,Kripashanker Pandey and Rajesh Yadav.

Special DG (Law and Order),Brij Lal said an STF team led by Deputy SP Arvind Chaturvedi arrested Vijay Mishra from Hauj Khas area of Delhi around noon. Mishra had been hiding in Karnataka,Maharashtra,Kolkata,Rajasthan and Gujarat since he was declared absconder in a criminal case months before Allahabad incident.

The STF team had collected information that Mishra owned a flat at Casopia Towers at Anand Lok Colony and used to visit the place at least once in a month. The cops had laid a trap following a tip-off about his visit on Tuesday. They caught Mishra at the Gargi College crossing when he was going to his flat.

Chaturvedi told The Indian Express that they produced Mishra before a magistrate and obtained a transit remand to take him to Allahabad. The special DG said Mishra had 62 cases registered against him at different police stations of Allahabad and Bhadohi and one in Howrah. These cases included 14 of murders,he added.

Story continues below this ad

The police says that Dilip Mishra,who had an enmity with Nandi,had hatched a conspiracy to kill the minister with the help of MLA Vijay Mishra and other associates named in the case. Vijay Mishra and Dilip Mishra are relatives. Dilip Mishra was in jail at the time of the Allahabad incident.

According to police,Vijay had stage-managed the arrest of Dilip from Udkeshwar police station of Nagpur in Maharashtra on May 3,2010 when he was wanted in a case of triple murder,registered at the Industrial Area police station in Allahabad on June 26,2009.

The police had named Mishra in the case after Anand Shandilya alias Rajesh Pilot,who allegedly planted the bomb,was arrested on October 5. Pilot had reportedly told the police that Mishra had hatched the conspiracy for the attack and had also made all arrangements.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram