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10 cops suspended, 7 arrested after undertrial shoots at self in Mainpuri court
A man accused of triple murder in 2012 fired at his leg in a Mainpuri court on Monday afternoon, as part of a conspiracy against his brother-in-law. He failed to achieve his objective and was booked in connection with the firing incident, but the security lapse led to the suspension of ten policemen -- seven of whom were also jailed, before being released on bail, for possible involvement in the conspiracy.
“This firing by undertrial Manish Yadav was a part of plan enacted on the advice of a lawyer. The lawyer reportedly suggested the undertrial, Manish Yadav, to fire at himself in the court and blame his brother-in-law Prince Yadav for the attack,” said superintendent of police (Mainpuri) Ajay Kumar, adding that Prince was married to Manish’s sister Rachna.
“The countrymade pistol was made available by manish’s maternal uncle Vinod Yadav, while the undertrial’s wife, Seema, hid it in her shawl. She passed on the pistol to her husband while he was being produced in court for a hearing of the triple-murder trial,” said Kumar.
Police said Manish was arrested in 2012, along with four others, in connection with the murder of his father Sukhram, stepmother Sushma and stepbrother Abhishek. “The crime was committed allegedly due to a land dispute. A case was registered at the Karhal police station of Mainpuri,” said Kumar.
Speaking about the Monday incident, the SP said, “As planned, Manish blamed Prince for firing at him because of the monetary and land dispute with him. However, Manish’s hands carried the odour of fresh gunpowder. It became clear that he had shot at himself and his story was false. He was taken to the district hospital and later to the Safai Medical College of Etawah, where he stated to be stable.”
Kumar said that during interrogation, Manish had confessed that he had hatched the plan with his uncle and wife’s help. “Efforts are on to nab Vinod Yadav, while Manish and Seema have already been arrested in the matter,” he said.
“Manish was brought to the court from the district jail, accompanied by constable Pradeep Raja. There was DFMD and baggage scanner at the entry of the sessions court where two head constables, two constables and a woman constable reportedly failed to detect the pistol carried by Seema,” said the SP, adding that court staff Devendra Gaur lodged two cases in this connection at the Kotwali police station of Mainpuri.
He said that seven cops, including head constable (LIU) Vijay Singh, head constable (civil police) Rama Kant Upadhyaya, constable (civil police) Satyaveer Singh, constable (LIU) Dilip Kumar, woman constable Kusum Chahar and constables Pradeep Raja and Yogendra Singh, were arrested, sent to jail and later, released on bail.
“Police involvement in the conspiracy cannot be ruled out. More personnel may face action after investigation,” said the SP.
In addition, three others -- including additional inspector Mukesh Malik, in charge court security Vijay Kumar Gautam and sub-inspector Ajay Pratap Singh -- had been suspended, said Kumar.
To recall, after an undertrial was shot dead at a court in Bijnor last month, the Allahabad high court had expressed concern over security lapses on court premises and had also summoned UP director general of police, OP Singh, in this connection.