UP court directs principal secy, DGP to attach properties of ex-minister Amarmani Tripathi in 2001 kidnapping case

Government Counsel Devanand Singh said the court’s latest direction comes as it suspected that the local police were avoiding action despite court directions.

Amarmani’s lawyer Rakesh Mishra said the police informed the court that they had identified two of his properties and were in the process of executing the attachment order. “The court has now directed the principal secretary (home) and DGP to trace Amarmani’s properties in all districts and execute the order (of attachment),” he informed.

The court has fixed the next hearing in the case on March 20.

According to the prosecution, in 2001, businessman Dharam Raj Gupta’s son Rahul Gupta was allegedly kidnapped from near his house in Basti. The police later found Rahul locked up in a house purportedly under the possession of Amarmani Tripathi, and booked nine people including the former minister in the case.

Of the nine accused, one died and two others have been at large after jumping bail, the police said. The case files of the five remaining accused have been separated from the rest. The court recently framed charges against them and the trial has begun.

On August 24, 2023, the Uttar Pradesh government ordered the premature release of the four-time former MLA and his wife Madhumani who were serving life imprisonment for the 2003 murder case of poet Madhumita Shukla in Lucknow. The government then said Amarmani and his wife showed “good behaviour while serving the term”.