Raja Bhaiya quits over murder of top cop

The SP government appears to be totally inept in handling the law and order situation in the state, and is often accused of patronizing goons
Pradeep Kapoor Lucknow 

In a day of rapidly unfolding developments in a rather tense and volatile situation on Monday (March 4), UP’s Director General of Police was locked up inside a room in Pratapgarh district by locals where he went to visit slain DSP Zia-ul-Haque’s wife. The locals were demanding that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav must visit the family immediately. While the Additional Director General of Police, Arun Kumar, has refuted these reports, the CM apparently rushed to the spot to cool down tempers. 

Earlier, minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya, notorious for his criminal record and ‘bahubali’ reputation, resigned from the UP cabinet after Haq’s wife, Parveen Azad, named him as a key conspirator in her FIR in the cold-blooded murder of her husband. A case of murder and criminal conspiracy has been registered against Raja Bhaiyya and four of his associates. Azad named Pratapgarh District Panchayat Chairman Gulshan Yadav, Raja bhaiyya’s driver Guddu Singh and two others, Rohit Singh and Hari Om, as the accused in her complaint. The police has arrested two persons named in the FIR.

Meanwhile, Raja Bhaiyya was seen defending himself in the Vidhan Sabha. He claimed that he was visiting the Chief Minister with one of the accused when the incident is said to have taken place. 

Moreover, Azad claims that Haq was already under tremendous pressure and that he was under constant threat. Moreover, Hardnews sources in Pratapgarh claim that Raja Bhaiyya, the powerful Food and Supply Minister, and his supporters, were upset on the manner Haq was handling the enquiry of a recent riot wherein some Muslim houses were torched by the Pasis, a Dalit community said to be supporters of Raja Bhaiyya. It is claimed that Haq refused to budge despite being under severe pressure from the powerful minister. “This could have precipitated things when Haq visited the spot,” says a source. 

Hardnews sources in Pratapgarh claim that Raja Bhaiyya, the powerful Food and Supply Minister, and his supporters, were upset on the manner Haq was handling the enquiry of a recent riot wherein some Muslim houses were torched by the Pasis, a Dalit community said to be supporters of Raja Bhaiyya

Haq was shot dead in Balipur village in Kunda district on Saturday, March 2, while he was on duty to probe the murder of village pradhan Nanhe Lal Yadav, said to be a close associate of Raja Bhaiyya. Yadav’s brother was also later killed in the clashes between the locals and the police. Reports suggest that 9 mm cartridges were found at the spot where Nanhe Lal Yadav was murdered indicating the involvement of professional killers. In Haq’s murder as well, there are speculations that the cop’s own 9 mm pistol was used. It is missing since.