Mahoba: Angry co-villagers of slain stone trader Indrakant Tripathi on Monday held a demonstration at the Kabrai police station in the district after the merchant's business partner was held soon after the cremation of the deceased.
Tripathi, 44, who had levelled allegations of corruption against the former Mahoba Superintendent Manilal Patidar, now under suspension, was shot at under mysterious circumstances and succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Kanpur on Sunday.
His cremation took place amid heavy police presence, police said. The situation suddenly took a turn for the worse when Indrakant's business partner Purshottam Soni was picked up by the police and whisked away in a police vehicle to Kabrai thana.
"As we were returning from the cremation ground, my brother's business partner Purshottam Soni was picked up by the police. He was taken in a police vehicle to the Kabrai police station. This angered the villagers who gheraoed the thana," Indrakant's brother Ravikant Tripathi said.
He also said, "Mahoba Additional SP picked up Soni. He (additional SP), however, left the Kabrai police station as soon as Mahoba District Magistrate Avadhesh Kumar Tiwari reached there. The gherao of the police station was then lifted." But, the villagers camped near the police station pressing for Purushottam Soni's release.
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Ravikant alleged that the police was trying to shield the suspended SP. "The new SHO brought the post-mortem report (along with the body) from Kanpur, but till now, section 302 of IPC has not been added to the case," he said.
A case of attempt to murder was registered against four persons, including the suspended SP, the suspended SHO, and Indrakant's business rival Suresh Soni on a complaint lodged by Ravikant, police had said on Saturday.
"Stone trader Indrakant Tripathi was injured after he was allegedly shot at under mysterious circumstances," Circle Officer Rajkumar Pandey had said on Saturday. On the police complaint lodged by Ravikant, a case was registered against the suspended SP, the suspended SHO of Kabrai Police Station Devendra Shukla, Suresh Soni and another person under various sections of the IPC, including the attempt to murder (307) and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The FIR was registered on Friday. According to Ravikant, his brother was found injured in his car with gunshot wounds on the Banda-Kabrai road at around 2.30 pm on Tuesday.
He alleged that the suspended SP had demanded a bribe of Rs 6 lakh from his brother and threatened to kill him or send him to jail in case of non-payment within a week. "My brother uploaded a video on social media on September 7 and 8...on Tuesday (September 8), he was found with bullet injury," he said.
On September 9, Patidar was suspended with immediate effect by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on corruption charges. The chief minister had also ordered a vigilance probe into the properties of Patidar. Ballast transporters in the district had accused Patidar of demanding money from them for allowing the transportation of mined material and when his demand was not met, the vehicle owners were harassed by the police," UP Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi had said in an official statement.
Amid the demonstration by slain traders' villagers at the Kabrai police station, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav demanded the arrest of the suspended Superintendent of Police Patidar.
The government should not indulge in the artificial suspension but must arrest the accused officials involved in the Indrakanat Tripathi's murder, said Yadav in a tweet in Hindi.
Why is there so much laxity in initiating action against the SP and the DM? Under what right the police are trying to stop public representatives from meeting public and raising issues of public interest? asked Yadav, adding if the government has any stake in saving the erring officials.
PTI report
