Lucknow, Feb. 16: Investigations into the murder of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s grandnephew Manish Mishra took a fresh turn after the brother of accused Ramji Verma alleged that police were trying to bribe his family into making a statement that Ramji was involved in the incident.

Ramji was arrested from a Chhattisgarh village, about 55 km from Bilaspur, on February 9 after he apparently confessed his involvement in a drunken state.

Mishra, the grandson of Vajpayee’s sister Vimla, was pushed off the speeding Chhattisgarh Express on January 24 for protesting against eve-teasing.

“My brother Ramji Verma is being framed in the case,” Mahesh alleged after meeting his brother in Mathura jail. Mahesh said the railway police offered his family Rs 50,000. He was also told that Ramji would be released on bail.

Alleging that the plot to frame Ramji was hatched in Bilaspur itself, Mahesh said his brother was made to admit that he was involved in the case. “But we all know that he is innocent,” he said.

Railway police today filed a petition before the Mathura chief judicial magistrate, praying for Ramji’s custody. The petition will be heard tomorrow.

“Ramji’s brother is clearly trying to mislead people by cooking up a new theory,” a senior railway police officer said. The railway police would interrogate Ramji further to identify the three other persons who had been involved in the case, the official said.

Woman killed on train

An unidentified passenger shot dead a woman on a train on the Gorakhpur-Varanasi section in Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh yesterday. The 50-year-old woman, who was killed in front of other passengers, was travelling to Deoria from Mau, railway police sources said.

The motive behind the killing, which took place between Bhatni and Noonkhar stations, is not yet known.

The assailant jumped out of the train after committing the crime, the sources said. A murder case has been registered.