Samajwadi Party leader behind attack on minister: Police

LUCKNOW - The Uttar Pradesh Police Thursday said they had unearthed the conspiracy behind the blast in Allahabad city targeting a state minister with the arrest of two people, and accused a local Samajwadi Party leader of masterminding the attack.

“We arrested two men - Kripa Shankar Pandey and Rajesh Yadav - who have not only confessed their involvement in the blast, but have given out the entire sequence of events that preceded the murder attempt,” Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Brij Lal told media persons here.

Institutional Finance Minister (Stamps and Registration) Nand Gopal Nandi was seriously injured in the blast July 12. A youth, who had come to the minister in search of a job was killed while a journalist of the Indian Express journalist and a security official also sustained serious injuries.

“Prima facie, the murder was planned by the block pramukh (chief) of Chaka block (of Allahabad district) Dilip Misra, who got the blast executed through his henchman and dreaded sharpshooter Rajesh Pilot,” Brij Lal said. Misra, who is associated with the Samajwadi Party, is currently in jail.

According to Brij Lal, “in their statement, the two arrested men have said that Dilip Misra had himself told them that he was desperate to eliminate Nand Gopal Nandi, because he (Misra) and his family were severely oppressed and harassed by the minister.”

He, however, declined to give details of Misra’s alleged harassment at the hands of the minister.

Brij Lal said police were on the trail of Pilot and another undentified man, who accompanied him to carry out the blast.

Pandey and Yadav reportedly told the police that Pilot and his unidentified accomplice not only set the stage for the blast but also carried out the entire operation. They admitted that their role was limited to passing on information relating to the minister’s movements.

“Eventually, they were the ones who conveyed to Rajesh that the minister was stepping out of the house. While they quietely slipped out of the scene, Rajesh and his accomplice who had parked themselves in the neighbourhood, pressed the button on the remote device to trigger the blast,” Brij Lal said.

In all, seven people have been named in the FIR. Besides Misra, these include Misra’s brother-in-law Manoj Kumar Pandey, Rajesh Yadav, Kripa Shankar Pandey, Purshottam Dube, Rajesh Pilot and the unidentified man.