UP minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya was on Sunday booked for alleged conspiracy in the killing of Kunda DSP Zia-ul-Haq.

Haq was shot on Saturday in Balipur village, 75 km west of Pratapgarh district headquarters, while trying to control the violence that had erupted following the killing of gram pradhan Nanhey Yadav and his brother Suresh.     

The Kunda police registered a first information report against Raja Bhaiya, the local MLA and food and civil supplies minister, under section 120(b) of the Indian Penal Code on the complaint of Haq's wife Parveen Azad.

Azad accused four associates of the minister - Gulshan Yadav (chairman, Kunda nagar panchayat), Hari Om Shankar Srivastava (Raja Bhaiya's representative), and Guddu Singh and Rohit Singh (drivers of the minister) - of being involved in her husband's murder.

The police are investigating the role of officers and constables who reportedly deserted Haq and left him at the mercy of a mob.

The mob first chased Haq and then thrashed him mercilessly before somebody snatched his pistol and shot him, said a police source. The police are also investigating if a rifle was used to shoot Haq. The police are yet to recover the slain officer's pistol. Haq had rushed to Balipur after the gram pradhan was shot allegedly over a land dispute.

UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav expressed grief over murder and announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 20 lakh for his family.