Raja Bhaiya quits,Akhilesh Yadav says CBI will probe,but no action yet

Although Haque’s body reached the village last night,Azad,a BDS student at a private medical college in Lucknow,had refused to allow the burial. “I will commit suicide if the CM does not come here and assure a CBI inquiry,” she had said.

“Those guilty will not be spared,irrespective of their stature. We will recommend a CBI probe,” said Akhilesh,whose cavalcade was stopped by angry villagers during his visit today.

Accompanied by Minorities Affairs minister Azam Khan,Akhilesh gave two cheques for Rs 25 lakh each to Azad and Haque’s father,Shamsul Haque. He also promised jobs for Azad and Haque’s younger brother Sohrab.

Haque,who was circle officer of Kunda,which is Raja Bhaiya’s Assembly constituency,was gunned down in Balipur village,in Pratapgarh district,on Saturday evening. The police officer had gone there following the murder of village pradhan Nanhe Lal Yadav in a land dispute.

Raja Bhaiya and four of his supporters were named as accused,following an FIR filed by Haque’s wife. Stating that her husband never visited “Raja Bhaiya’s darbar”,Azad said Haque was killed in a planned manner. “First they shot him in the legs so that he could not run. His skull was smashed with rods. He was then shot in the chest to kill him,” she claimed.

Meanwhile,in his statement in the Assembly soon after tendering his resignation today,Raja Bhaiya denied charges of his involvement and demanded a CBI probe into the matter.

“I was a minister and could have easily got the CO transferred by requesting the CM. I had no reason to murder him. He was a very soft-spoken officer and I had met him only twice,” said Raja Bhaiya. “Some people wanted my ouster as minister. They succeeded in their plan. But now the real murderer of CO,Kunda will never be punished,” he added.

Raja Bhaiya said the people named in the FIR included his personal driver Rohit Singh and his representative Hari Om Srivastava. “Rohit was with me at the CM’s residence when I went there on Saturday night to apprise him about the incident. Hari Om is suffering from serious liver and kidney ailments and cannot walk for 10 minutes at a stretch,” he claimed.

He said the situation worsened because of the inept handling by a senior police officer who was sent to Pratapgarh from Lucknow. “The officer misbehaved with the people there and was instrumental in drafting the FIR of the CO’s widow,” he stated. ADG (Law and Order) Arun Kumar was the senior officer sent from Lucknow.

The situation was further complicated by a corporator from a particular party who gathered a mob and raised slogans,said Raja Bhaiya.

Later,talking to the media,Raja Bhaiya alleged that an inspector of Kunda police station had fired with his service revolver,killing Suresh Yadav,the brother of viillage pradhan Nanhe Lal Yadav. Even the slain CO received bullet injuries from a service revolver,he claimed.

However,he added: “If the CM asks me,I am ready to go to jail’’.

In his statement in the assembly,the Chief Minister assured an impartial probe into the incident. “The government is worried and is in shock over the incident,” he said.