E-Paper
Ex-BSP MP, six others get life sentence in 1995 murder case
The court of additional district judge, Jaunpur has also imposed a fine of ₹5 lakh on ex-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Umakant Yadav and ₹20,000 each on six other co-accused
The court of additional district judge, Jaunpur, on Monday, sentenced former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Umakant Yadav and six others to life imprisonment for the murder of a Government Railway Police constable (GRP) 27 years ago.
The crime was committed inside the GRP outpost at Shahganj railway station of Jaunpur district on February 4, 1995.
The court has also imposed a fine of ₹5 lakh on Yadav and ₹20,000 each on six other co-accused.
Sharad Kumar Tripathi, additional district judge, Jaunpur, pronounced the order.
Umakant Yadav is already in jail while six other accused were taken into police custody on August 6 this year when the court had convicted them.
THE CASE
Rajkumar Yadav, driver of Umakant Yadav, had a brawl with a passenger at the Shahganj railway station in Jaunpur district on February 4, 1995, over a trivial issue of sitting on a bench at the platform.
When GRP constable Raghunath tried to intervene, Rajkumar slapped him.
With the help of other constables, both Rajkumar and the passenger were taken to the GRP outpost and were locked inside the lockup.
According to the FIR, at around 2.30pm same day, Umakant Yadav, along with six others with firearms, barged into the GRP lockup to set Rajkumar free.
Umakant Yadav and others resorted to indiscriminate firing in which constable Ajay Singh died.
Initially, the GRP probed the case. Thereafter, it was transferred to the CB-CID which filed the charge sheet in court.
During hearing, the court was transferred to the MP-MLA court, Prayagraj. However, on the Allahabad high court’s orders, it was transferred back to the sessions’ court, Jaunpur and thereafter to the MP-MLA court, Jaunpur.
Six co-accused in the case are Rajkumar Yadav, Dharamraj Yadav, Mahendra Prasad Varma, Subedar Singh, Sabhajeet Pal and Bacchu Lal.
Umakant Yadav has a long criminal history, including charges of murder. He had won assembly polls from Khutahan, which is now Shahganj assembly constituency, in 1991 and 1993 on the BSP ticket and as the Samajwadi Party candidate in 1996.
As the BSP candidate, Umakant Yadav had defeated BJP leader Keshrinath Tripathi in the 2004 general election from Machhlishahr Lok Sabha constituency.
On May 30, 2007, the then chief minister and BSP chief Mayawati got Umakant Yadav arrested from her official residence in Lucknow when he came to meet her.
He was then her party MP.
Mayawati had summoned Umakant Yadav, who was accused of razing four shops and some houses in Paliyamafi village under Phoolpur police station in Azamgarh district.
