Lucknow, March 4: Uttar Pradesh minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya resigned today after being accused in the murder of a DSP, sparking speculation about his arrest and leaving chief minister Akhilesh Yadav facing charges of anarchy as he completes a year in office.
Sources said Raja Bhaiya was “sternly told” to quit as cabinet minister in charge of civil supplies when he the met chief minister this morning. Late this evening, two of his drivers were arrested.
Raja Bhaiya’s resignation came hours before Akhilesh met the widow of Ziaul Haque, the officer who was killed by a mob of alleged Samajwadi supporters in Raja Bhaiya’s constituency Kunda.
Akhilesh’s stepdown diktat to Raja Bhaiya, who faces dozens of other criminal cases, marked a dramatic turnaround for the chief minister who had defending the tainted Independent MLA so far as someone “victimised by Mayawati”.
Raja Bhaiya was named along with four of his associates in the murder FIR on the basis of a complaint by Parveen Azad, the widow of the slain officer, additional director-general Arun Kumar said today.
The associates include Gulshan Yadav, the chairman of the local panchayat, Raja Bhaiya’s aide Hari Om Srivastava, and the MLA’s arrested drivers Guddu Singh and Rohit Singh.
The 32-year-old officer was dragged to a paddy field and shot on Saturday when he had gone to Balipur village in Kunda, 170km from Lucknow, with his team to quell a flareup triggered by the murders of a Samawjadi party pradahan and his brother over a land dispute.
The eight policemen who accompanied Haque and allegedly abandoned him during the mob attack have been suspended. They include Kunda police station inspector Sarvesh Mishra, said inspector-general (Allahabad zone) Alok Sharma.
“Gulshan Yadav, Hari Om Srivastava and his (Raja Bhaiya’s) drivers assaulted my husband with sticks and rods and later shot him dead on the orders of Raja Bhaiya,” Parveen, 27, said in her complaint filed late last night.
Parveen today reached Deoria, the officer’s native town where residents refused to bury the DSP’s body demanding the arrest of Raja Bhaiya. They relented after Akhilesh met Parveen this evening and promised action, besides jobs and Rs 25 lakh as compensation.
Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid, also arrived to meet the family but was stopped on way, with police saying the restriction was imposed to maintain law and order.
“I was going there to offer condolences and take part in the namazejanaza (funeral prayers). The authorities did not give me any reason for stopping me,” Bukhari said. The cleric accused the government of failing to provide security to Muslims, who form the core of the Samajwadis’ support.
Raja Bhaiya, however, claimed a conspiracy and claimed the DSP was killed in a crossfire between the police and the villagers. “Those who named me and my associates are misleading the investigation. I think only a CBI probe will bring out the truth.”
The DSP’s murder reverberated in the Assembly, with calls for Raja Bhaiya’s arrest coming amid Akhilesh’s promises of a crackdown. “It is the most unfortunate incident to happen. The government will spare no one and it is prepared to order any kind of probe into the incident. We will investigate and people found guilty will be brought to book.”
His rivals weren’t convinced, though. Outside the House, Mayawati demanded President’s rule. “Ordinary people of this state cannot be safe if a senior police officer of DSPrank is not,” she said, adding Uttar Pradesh is in the throes of jungle raj. Samajwadi chief and Akhilesh’s father Mulayam Singh Yadav retorted this was “a case of the pot calling the kettle black”. “Mayawati’s charges are unsubstantiated.”
The Congress termed the incident the “lowest point” in “young” Akhilesh’s tenure.
“This is lowest moment so far in Akhilesh Yadav’s rule. If he fails to rule (effectively) after getting such a huge mandate, how can people have faith in his administration any more?” former state party chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi said.
