Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has suspended IPS officer Aparna Gupta and the then Deputy SP Manoj Gupta for their questionable role in the kidnapping and subsequent murder of a lab technician, Sanjeet Yadav.
SHO Barra police station Ranjit Rai and chowki in-charge Rajesh Kumar were suspended earlier for alleged dereliction of duty.
The government has asked senior IPS officer B.P. Jogdand to probe the case in which Sanjeet was kidnapped on June 22 and his family was asked by the police to pay a ransom of Rs 30 lakh on July 13.
On Thursday, the police arrested five people in connection with the case and the accused said that Sanjeet had been murdered on June 26-27 and his body was thrown in the Pandu River.
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Among those detained, are two of Sanjeet's friends. The motive behind the kidnapping and murder is still not known. The body of the victim has also not been recovered as yet.
Police asked family to pay ransom, but kidnapper managed to flee:
According to reports, Sanjeet, son of Chaman Lal Yadav who worked at a local pathology lab, was kidnapped on June 22.
The kidnappers called up the family and demanded Rs 30 lakh as ransom. Subsequently, Chaman Lal Yadav lodged a complaint and a FIR was registered at the Barra police station.
The Kanpur police landed in a major controversy after it asked the family of the kidnapped man to pay the ransom money to the kidnappers.
On the advice of the police, Chaman Lal Yadav managed to arrange the ransom amount of Rs 30 lakh as asked by the police. The family went to the designated spot on the Gujaini railway track on July 13.
The police were apparently waiting in the wings to swoop down on the kidnapper. However, the entire plan went away when the kidnapper fled with the money and there was no sign of the victim.
Will kill ourselves, says family:
A video of Sanjeet's family crying for help from the media and the police has also gone viral on social media. The family blamed the local police for botching up the investigations and threatened to kill themselves.
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"The police played with us. The entire day they just kept telling us that they would reveal all details about the case. But in reality, nothing has been done," said Chaman Lal Yadav.
"What happened to our son, we will do the same thing. If our son is no longer with us, what will we do by staying alive?" Chaman added.
Ruchi, Sanjeet's sister threatened that the family would attempt self-immolation.
"Police did not do any investigation. They have been playing with our lives. We no longer trust anyone. We will immolate ourselves," she said.
Body yet to be traced:
SSP Vineet Bhatnagar said that separate teams have been formed and further investigations were on to trace the body of the victim.
He also assured to investigate the role of the cops and said that if found guilty, they will face strict action.
(With inputs from IANS)
