Behind fire at Rita house,the smoke: ‘Cops didnt act,they connived’

Half an hour before suspected BSP supporters attacked the Lucknow bungalow of UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi late Wednesday night....

Half an hour before suspected BSP supporters attacked the Lucknow bungalow of UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi late Wednesday night over her alleged derogatory remarks against Chief Minister Mayawati,police came to the bungalow and took away the domestic help who claimed they were held overnight at the Hazratganj police station and let off this morning after Congress leaders intervened.

The bungalow is barely 50 metres from the gate of the Secretariat Annexe,which houses the CM office,and the rear entrance of the Raj Bhawan. It is a high security area and a PCR Gypsy is always stationed there. Yet the police say they have no clue to the identity of the slogan-shouting men they were about two dozen who drove into the Joshi residence,ransacked it for half an hour,set on fire four vehicles and left as noisily as they had come.

While local residents claimed they saw the men leaving in vehicles with BSP flags,DGP Vikram Singh and ADG (Law and Order) Brij Lal said they had no information about the involvement of BSP workers in the attack.

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The BSP even alleged that the bungalow had been attacked by Congressmen.

Brij Lal said he knew nothing about the background of five persons said to have been held by police. The identity and antecedents of the persons who executed the arson last night will be revealed only during investigation, he said.

But the staff at Joshis bungalow cook Raj Kumar Verma,his wife Sudha,their five-year-old son Karan,PCC employee Ram Bodh Chaudhary,his wife Rita,Chaudharys relative Mahendra Pal,and bungalow owner Kranti Kumars help Ram Singh Chauhan claimed they were taken away by the police before the attack. Munni,who is Joshis personal help,hid herself and remained in the bungalow until 3 am.

Around 11 pm last night,a police vehicle arrived and they asked us to open the main gate. After some hesitation,we opened the gate. The vehicle entered the bungalow. They took away everyone except Munni, said Rita Devi,wife of Ram Bodh.

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Raj Kumar Verma said: We could not understand why they were taking us away. They took us to Hazratganj police station. The men were kept in a hall along with my son Karan and the two women were kept in a separate room. We asked the police why they were keeping us there and they said they had brought us to the police station for our safety.

Munni said she was sitting in her room,watching television when she heard a commotion. l looked out and saw policemen taking them away.

Brij Lal,however,denied the claim that the police picked up the staff before the attack. The police team reached the spot only after receiving information about the violence and rescued them from the house, he said.

But UPCC chief spokesperson Subodh Srivastava said: The police picked these people before the arson began and detained them for over 12 hours. It shows that the police knew about the incident in advance.

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Recalling the attack,Munni said: Around 11.45 pm,I heard people shouting outside the gate. On spotting a crowd entering the premises,she ran into a dressing room,locked herself in and switched off the light.

They were shouting and banging on doors,breaking things. They were banging the bathroom door,flashing a torch through in the gap between the floor and door to see if anyone was there. I held my breath,moved next to a cupboard and sat there for the next two hours.

They set the house on fire. I could hear blasts from the cars and then smoke started filling the room where I was hiding… I opened the door only when people from the Congress office arrived,shouted out my name, she said.

The FIR lodged at the Hussainganj police station does not name the group involved in the vandalism. The complaint by UPCC spokesperson Srivastava alleged that BSP MLA Jitendra Singh Babloo was among those who orchestrated the attack. The police,he said,took no action on his complaint.

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ADG Brij Lal said: Two separate FIRs cannot be lodged for one incident. The allegations in the complaint will be probed during investigation of the primary case.

DGP Vikram Singh told The Indian Express: An inquiry has been ordered to probe the response time of the police officials and their efficiency. Culprits involved in the incident will be booked at the earliest.