Lucknow: The alleged encounter of Pushpendra Yadav in an alleged illegal sand mining case Jhansi has now taken a political turn, with the Samajwadi Party, the main opposition party in the state, terming it as a “murder” by the police.
Former UP Chief Minister and SP president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday visited Jhansi to meet the family members of the deceased even as a magisterial has been ordered in the case.
Akhilesh Yadav demanded a probe by a sitting High Court Judge in the case and said it was not a case of encounter but a murder by the police. “No one believes the theory floated by police and the sequence of events as told by the Jhansi district administration,” he said. “You can understand how big the conspiracy is as the entire government has swung in to action to save the SHO (station house officer).”
"The family members have not even got the postmortem report," said Akhilesh Yadav, adding the police should not have had any objection to the demands of the family members of filing a case. "It is surprising that even the last rites were performed by the police without the family members. Is this Ram Rajya?"
He said that there have been many such killings in Sonebhadhra, Saharanpur, Noida, Azamgarh and Shamli and people have no faith in the probe by this government and the administration. "It is very unfortunate that government and administration are together in saving the police station in-charge. There appear to be some big conspiracy behind this," he said.
Akhilesh Yadav said he has assured the family all possible help. "There are many loopholes in the police story. The incident has sparked protests in the area," he said.
The SP chief made an overnight halt in Jhansi and will address a press conference at a hotel here on Thursday.
"Not much should be expected from the police force of a state where the chief minister openly asks them to 'thok dalo' (shoot) those taking law in their own hands," said Akhilesh Yadav. "I have no faith in the police and administration of the state."
The BJP hit back, saying the SP chief is more concerned about sand mining mafia and his caste arithmetic.
"It was an encounter but Akhilesh has to go to the person's house because he is in love with the sand mining mafia and has to take care of caste equation. But he does not care how the sand mining mafia should be eradicated. This is precisely why he was thrown out by the people in elections," said senior BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh.
According to the Jhansi Police, Moth SHO Dharmendra Singh Chauhan on September 29 had seized a truck belonging to Pushpendra Yadav in a case of illegal mining. On the night of October 5, Chauhan, who was returning to Jhansi from Kanpur in his private car after a two-day leave, received a call from Pushpendra Yadav regarding his seized truck.
Chauhan then reached the Bamrauli intersection to meet him where he was allegedly shot at as soon as he rolled down his window pane.
Shivangi, Pushpendra Yadav’s widow, rubbished the encounter theory and claimed that Chauhan had killed her husband after the latter threatened to make public a telephonic conversation where the police officer is allegedly heard asking him for a bribe.
“They caught him (Pushpendra) and killed him. If at all it was my husband’s fault, the police could have summoned him or sent him to jail… they even had his mobile number. My husband had already paid Rs 1.5 lakh to the SHO, but he wanted more,” claimed Shivangi.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Jhansi Police in a tweet released a record of crimes attributed to Pushpendra Yadav, most of which related to personal disputes. All pertained to 2014 and 2015, and included charges such as abetment, enticing or taking away or detaining with criminal intent a married woman and criminal intimidation. In a separate tweet, the police also claimed that his truck was fined twice in 2018 for illegal mining with the latest ‘challan’ as recent as September 29.
(With inputs from PTI)
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