EOW to probe criminal cases against Bajrangi

The reason for handing over the probe of criminal cases to the EOW,Tripathi said,was because one of the two cases included charges of transferring registration of a land fraudulently by using forged documents. The land dispute between the complainant and the accused was the origin of the alleged incident of rioting,land grabbing,criminal intimidation and molestation,he added.

However,the DG could not give a convincing reply about transferring another case which included charges of attempt to murder,rioting,criminal intimidation.

A senior police officer in Varanasi said the first case transferred to the EOW was lodged at Shivpur police station on April 24 based on a complaint by one Prema Devi. The woman alleged that property dealers Ashok Jalan and Pradeep Jalan had sold her a plot in Shivpur locality which was part of a 2.595 hectare area despite the fact that the duo did not have ownership of the entire area.

The property dealers later sold the same land to jailed don Munna Bajrangi’s wife Seema,his brother-in-law Pushpajeet Singh,aide Sanjay Kumar Rao’s wife Neelam and builder Vinay Didwaniya using forged documents of the property,she alleged.

The complainant also alleged that on April 24 a group of over a dozen armed men sent by Bajrangi and led by his aides Pushpajeet Singh,Sanjay Rao,Didwaniya and property dealers Ashok and Pradeep tried to forcibly grab her land and assaulted and molested her.

The second case was lodged at Jaitpura police station of Varanasi on April 30 by Vikram Bhardwaj of Chowkaghat locality. Bhardwaj,who claimed to be a witness in a criminal case against Bajrangi,alleged that the don’s brother-in-law Pushpajeet Singh and his aides — Sanjay Rao,Vishwas Sharma alias Nepali,Rajesh Chaudhary,Rajesh Yadav,Vinay Didwaniya,Om Prakash Sharma — and two others attacked him at the instance of Bajrangi at Ram Leela Bhawan around 10 pm on April 30.

He also alleged that the accused fired at him,but he somehow escaped injury.

A police official said that two of the named accused – Vishwas Sharma and Rajesh Chaudhary — were wanted in criminal cases registered against them in Varanasi and other districts and both of them carry rewards of Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000,respectively.

Another accused Sanjay Rao has criminal cases pending against him in Varanasi and Deoria districts.