Jailed don got supari for Tripathi’s murder: Police

Meanwhile, a district court today rejected the bail applications of Chand and his nephew, Abhishek.

Police claimed that Chand had hired Singh to eliminate Tripathi, his business and political rival. And that it was Singh’s gunmen who shot down the former BJP MLA and his driver on Sunday.

Singh has been named in the FIR on charges of issuing threats to Tripathi and being involved in the conspiracy of the murder.

‘‘Singh’s men had earlier gone to Tripathi’s house to threaten him. There is a very strong possibility that his henchmen committed the murder. We are now getting Singh on a remand from Faizabad Jail for interrogation. The whole conspiracy will be out in a few days,’’ said Lucknow SSP Navniet Sekera.

Though behind bars, Singh runs a wide network of extortion and contract killings, using over two dozen mobile phones, said Sekera. ‘‘In this case too, Singh called up Tripathi and his son, warning them to broker peace with Chand in the coal trade,’’ added the SSP.

The former MLA and his son Tripurari Tripathi, who last year made their foray into Gorakhpur — the traditional stronghold of the Chands in coal trading, reportedly snubbed Singh on the phone.

‘‘This probably infuriated Singh further. So, he joined hands with Markanday Chand to eliminate Tripathi for a hefty price. The hunt is on for his gunmen who executed the murder,’’ said a top official.

Officials suspect that Chand’s son, C P Chand, paid the supari to Singh for Tripathi’s murder. According to Sekera, C P Chand also visited Tripathi at his residence some days back to threaten him.

During Singh’s stay in Lucknow Jail till early last month, the police were flooded with complaints from coal traders of Eastern UP who said the don was making extortion calls to them. The Faizabad police had also booked Singh, who has over two dozen criminal cases against him, for orchestrating the murder of a coal trader, Khem Chand, after he refused to pay up.

Abhishek in Kanpur at time of murder, say police

While Abhishek Chand has been named as one of the attackers in the FIR lodged by former BJP MLA Laxmi Narayan Tripathi’s widow, investigations show Abhishek was in Gorakhpur at the time of the murder.

Both Abhishek and Markanday Chand, who were arrested in Gorakhpur and brought to Lucknow, have been remanded to 14 days judicial custody. Police said they would seeking their custody later. —ENS