SO made scapegoat in Sultanpur murder case

More than a week after Revenue Inspector Ram Kumar Yadav was killed for his refusal to dissuade his wife Kamla Devi from contesting the election of gram pradhan of Majhwara in Sultanpur.

More than a week after Revenue Inspector Ram Kumar Yadav was killed for his refusal to dissuade his wife Kamla Devi from contesting the election of gram pradhan of Majhwara in Sultanpur against the wishes of BSP MLA Chandrabhadra Singh alias Sonu Singh,the police has made Kurebhar Station Officer Harihar Nath Mishra a scapegoat.

Sultanpur SP Ashok Kumar Raghav placed Mishra under suspension on Monday evening for inaction on two FIRs. One of the two FIRs was in case of a complaint in which Kamla Devi on September 26 had stated that the MLAs four men had threatened her to withdraw from the contest. The second was in case of a complaint lodged by one of the MLAs men against Kamlas husband and four others on October 12,accusing them of rioting,causing hurt and criminal intimidation.

Faizabad Range DIG Rajesh Kumar Rai said the SO has been suspended because he did not arrest the accused named in the two cases. Had he initiated prompt action,the murder could have been averted, the DIG said.

Ironically,the SO had made a recommendation for invoking the Goonda Act against the men named by Kamla Devi in her complaint,and who would later be part of the gang that kidnapped and killed her husband on October 25-26,but the SP had turned it down.

That is just one irony of the case. The second irony is the police not arresting the MLA and his brother Yashbhadra Singh alias Monu Singh,both history-sheeters. In her representations to various authorities,Kamla Devi had stated that the MLA,his brother and their men were threatening her. They are also among the nine accused named in the kidnapping and murder case of Ram Kumar Yadav.

But Faizabad SSP RKS Rathore has justified inaction against the MLA and his brother. He says that none of the arrested men had said that either of the brothers was present at the time of kidnapping or murder. We are probing and action would be initiated if they are found involved in the criminal conspiracy, he said.

That brings us to the third irony. Four of the arrested men are listed as members of a criminal gang,headed by Monu Singh,in the police record of Sultanpur. The MLA himself is shown as a member of the gang. But Rathore,who is supervising the investigation,said he does not know this.

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In her complaint,Kamla Yadav had named four men Dikkat Singh,Handle Singh,Sunil Mishra and Tinnu Mishra for threatening her to withdraw from the election. The case was registered under IPC Sections 147 (rioting) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

Given the criminal background of the people named in the case,the SO had initiated the process of invoking the Goonda Act against them. The circle officer,the sub-divisional magistrate and the additional SP gave green signal to the recommendation,but Raghav turned it down.

The fourth irony is that the DIG,who is the immediate boss of Raghav,said he does not know this. Raghav himself refused to talk about the matter,but said the police had taken other measures against the accused.

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