Allahabad bomb blast accused sent to police custody

ALLAHABAD - A court in Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad district Thursday sent four people accused of the July 12 bomb attack on a state minister to police custody, officials said.

While Dileep Mishra and Mahendra Mishra, who police accuse of masterminding the attack, were sent to seven days police custody, the other two accused - Rajesh Yadav and Kripa Shankar Pandey - were sent to five days police custody.

The chief judicial magistrate’s court remanded the four men in police custody on an application moved by the police.

The Uttar Pradesh Police July 15 said they had unearthed the conspiracy behind the blast targeting the Minister for Finance (Stamps and Registrations) Nand Gopal Gupta alias Nandi with the arrest of Yadav and Pandey.

Yadav and Pandey were nabbed July 14 night from the Naini area in Allahabad. The two had revealed local Samajwadi Party leader Dileep Mishra, who is block pramukh (chief) of Chaka block (in Allahabad district) planned the attack along with his aides, including Mahendra Mishra.

While Yadav and Pandey were brought before the CJM’s court July 15, Dileep Mishra and Mahendra Mishra - who were already in Agra and Badaun jail respectively - were brought before the court July 19. All the four accused were sent to 14 days judicial custody.

The bomb blast took place July 12 near the minister’s house in Mutthiganj area of Allahabad, some 200 km from Lucknow. A man, Rakesh Malviya, 45, died on his injuries the same day, while five others, including the minister and a journalist were injured in the incident.

The journalist, Vijay Pratap Singh later succumbed to his injuries while being treated in a hospital in Delhi.