Dead man back,‘killers’ to be released soon

The case dates back to April 30,2008,when the gram pradhan of Ariyawa village lodged a complaint with the police,stating that an unidentified man had shot a youth near Sariya flyover — under Mohanganj police station — in Rae Bareli. Since the body could not be identified,it had been cremated as unclaimed.

The same day,Chandra Pal disappeared. On May 9,his father Ram Kishor Yadav went to the police and said his son,who worked with contractor Mahendra Pratap,has been missing,but the contractor was not giving him a satisfactory reply regarding his whereabouts.

At the police station,Ram Kishor was shown the belongings of the youth killed on April 30.

“The family identified the belongings and claimed they were Chandra Pal’s. Ram Kishor lodged a complaint against Mahendra Pratap and his associates,accusing them of murdering his son,” said Investigating Officer C Pushkar,currently posted at the Kakori police station in Lucknow.

At the time,Mahendra Pratap,who was an accused in a murder case,was out on bail and the police had been keeping him under watch.

“Mahendra Pratap’s cellphone was on surveillance. We came to know that on the day of the incident,he and some others had killed someone. On basis of this information,we arrested Mahendra and six of his gang members,” added Pushkar. The police later filed a chargesheet against them.

Mahendra Pratap,Pappu,Govind Bahadur Singh and Karam Veer Singh have since been out on bail. Bhadur Saroj,Akhilesh Singh and Shakti Singh are still in jail. Sometime ago,the police had some doubt and filed an application,requesting the court to allow them to collect more evidence,said defence lawyer Asim K Singh.

Then Chandra Pal surfaced. “He told us that he had gone to Delhi for work and was not aware of what had happened in his absence,” said Inspector AP

Tiwari,in-charge of the Mohanganj police station in Rae Bareli.

“Since Chandra Pal has now recorded his statement before the court,we will file an application for the release of the three accused currently in jail. An inquiry has been set up into the case and those found guilty will be punished,” said Rahul Yadvendra,Additional Superintendent of Police,Rae Bareli.

But who was the man whose body was identified as Chandra Pal’s? For the moment,no one knows.