Smriti Irani aide’s killer held after encounter in UP’s Jamon
LUCKNOW: The prime accused in the murder of Amethi MP Smriti Irani’saide, Surendra Pratap Singh was arrested after a brief encounter in Jamon area early Friday.
Singh, a former Baraulia gram pradhan who helped swing votes for Irani in the Lok Sabha elections in Amethi, was shot dead in his home on May 26. The alleged mastermind, Wasim, arrested on Friday, had been evading the police since the day of the killing. Four of his accomplices — Nasim, Dharmnath Gupta, Ramchandra and Golu — had been arrested soon after the murder. The police seized a .315 country-made pistol from Wasim after the encounter.
“We first intercepted him around 1 am near Jamon village, but he shot at us twice and fled. A back-up police team intercepted him near RS Public School and opened fire while he was accelerating his bike. A bullet pierced his right leg and he fell off the vehicle,” said Amethi superintendent of police Rajesh Kumar.
Kumar said Surendra had scuttled Ramchandra’s chances of winning the panchayat polls and had also registered a case of theft against his brother and parents.
“The night before the murder, all five accused, along with Surendra, went to a wedding ceremony and engaged in a brawl after a booze binge. Wasim wanted revenge and the night of the brawl served as the trigger,” Kumar claimed.
“After Surendra reached home and fell asleep on the verandah, Wasim, along with his aide, Atul, came on a bike to the former pradhan’s house. The other accused, Nasim, Dharmnath Gupta and Ramchandra, stood guard outside. Wasim fired a single shot at the pradhan and fled with Atul, who injured himself scaling the gate,” the SP claimed.
After murder, the five escaped to Ramchandra’s house where Atul dumped his blood-stained gamcha and threw the murder weapon into the neighbourhood pond, the police officer said, adding that Wasim and Golu fled to Gurgaon, while Nasim, Dharmnath Gupta and Ramchandra sought refuge in a villager’s home.
The alleged mastermind, Wasim, arrested on Friday, had been evading the police since the day of the killing. Four of his accomplices had been arrested soon after Surendra Singh’s murder