BSP leader held for murder

Abidi was released on bail last month in connection with a case of arson at UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshis residence in 2009.

Saif Haider Naqvi,an employee of the Social Welfare Department,was shot dead in Wazirganj area of Lucknow on March 2.

Confirming the arrest of the BSP leader,Lucknow DIG DK Thakur said he had asked two associates,Salim and Rustam,to kill Naqvi.

Salim was arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police,along with his brothers,Rustam and Sohrab,on May 18. The three,from Lucknow,were wanted in a string of murder and loot cases in Delhi.

Thakur said that during questioning Salim told the police that he,along with Rustam,had shot dead Naqvi at the behest of the BSP leader. He also told the police that Abidi had illicit relations with a close relative of Naqvi and considered him an obstacle.

Delhi Police videographed the interrogation and sent the recording to UP Police. Salim said Abidi did not pay them for committing the murder.

Earlier,the Lucknow police had arrested two persons Shahzade and Rauf alias Mammu for hatching the conspiracy to kill Naqviwith the help of Salim and Rustam. In the case diary,the investigating officer had mentioned that Naqvi had informed the police about a betting racket run by Mammu and this had led to enmity between the two.

Incidentally,two days after the murder,the Uttar Pradesh CB-CID had arrested Abidi and Jitendra Singh Babloo,BSP legislator from Bikapur,from Hazratganj area for the arson at state Congress chiefs home on July 15,2009. The day after the arrest,PWD Minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui and then mines minister Babu Singh Kushwaha,both close to Chief Minister Mayawati,visited them in jail.