On ‘conman’ Sherpuria’s trail: dodgy addresses, VVIP names, a locked office, a project gone defunct

Only, Dev Narayan Rai of Sherpur is nowhere to be found in the list of over 3,600 freedom fighters maintained by the Ghazipur administration. Records show that no person with that name has been recorded as a freedom fighter either by the Centre or the state or has ever received any pension.

Sherpuria’s “freedom-fighter” past, many here say, could have been a mere ruse to build a legacy as he started his hurried climb up the power ladder.

About 30 km away in Ghazipur city, is where Sherpuria claimed he opened an office of his NGO Youth Rural Entrepreneur Foundation (YREF). The Enforcement Directorate is probing this for dubious transactions with businessmen to allegedly help them in cases being probed by the ED. Its address in the city, 5/H, Ravindrapuri Colony, draws a blank. However, YREF Ghazipur, on GPS, leads one to dilapidated, locked house. Neighbours said they have never heard of such a company’s office working out of that house.

Another entity related to Sherpuria, Purvanchal Fish Trading Ltd, that shared its director with YREF, also cannot be found at its registered address: 59, Visheshwar Ganj. Again, this draws a blank since there is no establishment with this number. This is not a valid address, said residents and shopkeepers of the colony.

The locked house in Ravindrapuri colony in Ghazipur to which the GPS leads when YREF office address for the city is fed in. (Express Photo by Anand Singh)

Interviews with local residents and BJP leaders reveal that few had heard of Sherpuria in this district until he “suddenly” showed up in 2021, organized a major event in the name of his NGO, held a rozgar mela (employment fair) and did some Covid relief work.

Said a senior BJP leader: “He was trying to create a social base for a ticket from Ghazipur for 2024 as the region’s biggest leader is now the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. His claims of his grandfather being a freedom fighter appears to be an attempt to create a legacy.”

In February 2021, at Karaila village near Nandganj, 15 km from Ghazipur, Sherpuria organized an event to ostensibly mark the inauguration of his NGO’s “Centre for Excellence”. Locals and Ghazipur BJP leaders said in attendance were several key state ministers with a BJP MP and scores of sadhus present.

“It was an event to behold. There were state-of-the-art tents and cultural programs organized on three different stages for three different sets of crowds. I haven’t seen such arrangements even for a PM rally in this region,” a local BJP leader said.

The riverbank work carried out by the government in Sherpur allegedly through Sherpuria’s influence. (Express Photo by Anand Singh)

Two years later, this YREF facility at Karaila, meant to upgrade farmers’ skills, is struggling to stay afloat.

Its manager Utkarsh Rai has not been paid for two months while labourers drawn from nearby villages continue to wait for their wages. Farmers also complain of alleged flooding of their fields by the facility which proposes to promote pisciculture.

Spread over 15 acres leased from a local villager, the property has a few acres of cattle feed crops, two godowns full of specially designed food carts, two cows and two aging bulls. An ambulance, apparently used during Covid, gathers dust in the compound.

Utkarsh Rai, a 25-year-old agriculture graduate who manages the premises, is the only full-time employee. “It was only a few months earlier that some real work had begun happening when Sanjay Rai Sahab got arrested. Since then no work has happened here, nor anyone visits anymore. We haven’t been paid either,” he said.

The road in Sherpur christened after Sherpuria’s father by Sherpuria. (Express Photo by Anand Singh)

Utkarsh Rai said the who’s who of the local BJP visited the facility until a few months ago. Coffee table books in this YREF office are peppered with testimonials from a string of purported VVIPs – Cabinet ministers to senior RSS leaders, top administration officials and even a former judge.

Before Sherpuria arrived in Ghazipur, though, his climb began in Varanasi. It is here that Sherpuria got YREF registered. At the NGO’s registered address in Balaji Nagar in the city’s Lanka area, Baleshwar House still stands. But it does not belong to Sherpuria anymore. The property, under renovation, is now owned by a local businessman who bought it from Sherpuria in 2021, two years after YREF was registered at the address.

Incidentally, until 2022, RoC records show, Sherpuria continued to mention Balaji Nagar as his company’s registered address.

Said Ramesh Singh, who lives in the adjacent house: “We were not aware of any NGO being run from here. We never saw any board. We thought he was a major BJP leader because top Ministers would come to meet him here often. He was also involved in the 2019 poll campaign and organised many public programs here. Every other day there would be a feast organised and the entire colony would be invited.”

.The Youth Rural Entrepreneurial Foundation ( YREF) registered office in Varanasi. (Express Photo by Anand Singh)

Back in Sherpur, villagers say Sanjay Rai never visited the village until a few years ago, nor was anyone aware of him. “Baleshwar Rai (father) himself never lived in the village. They were a very poor family. Baleshwar left for Assam to work and then went to Gujarat from there. None of his five sons ever lived here,” said Angad Rai, a village elder.

On the ground, perception of his clout is mixed. Some say he has done little for the village; others say he “pulled strings” to get work. For example, according to Manoj Rai, who retired from the irrigation department, it was Sherpuria’s prodding that got work done on the riverbank to prevent erosion.

Few, however, are pleased with his arrest. The unanimous view in the Bhumihar-dominated village is that it is a “political conspiracy” against the community, to which Sherpuria belongs.

“He has done social work, he hasn’t taken any money from anyone, rather given. He has done so much for the village. Now people are calling him a thug. Tell me a minister who is not taking money. Sanjay had become politically active and some people felt threatened,” Sherpuria’s uncle Abhay Rai said.

Meanwhile, at the Karaila office, uncertain of his future and with time on his hand, manager Utkarsh Rai says he has been spending his time reading The Communist Manifesto, a copy of which lies in the office along with the gritty works of poet Dushyant Kumar.