Minister’s son had bought car in Vinay’s name, gifted land also: Family
A man was found dead at the house of India's Union minister Kaushal Kishore's son after a dispute over money lost in a card game. The victim's mother is demanding justice and the arrest of all the accused, including the minister's son. The police are investigating the incident and have recovered a gun from the scene. The family protested with the victim's body until the guilty were arrested.
The narrow lanes of Faridi Nagar in Dubagga’s Bhuwar area leads to a tiny house where the loud wails of a mother, whose son was found dead at a house belonging to Union minister Kaushal Kishore’s son Vikas Kishore, woke up a sleepy neighbourhood on Friday.
Vinay Srivastava, 26, was allegedly shot dead only hours before after a tussle with his three friends—Ajay Rawat, Ankit Verma and Shamim—over money he had lost in a game of cards, according to police.
The incident took place at Vikas’ new house in Dubagga area, only a few kilometres away from the victim’s home.
“I want justice or else Vinay will not be cremated,” said Chaya Srivastava (50), Vinay’s mother and a widow. Apart from Vinay, she has three sons — Vikas (30), Vibhav (25) and Vikrant (22).
“I demand the immediate arrest of all the accused and also the minster’s son Vikas, who kept his gun irresponsibly,” she said.
According to Vinay’s family members, he was close to Kaushal Kishore’s son Vikas.
“My son was close to the minister’s son. He used to accompany him everywhere,” said Chaya, adding that Vikas had bought a car last Diwali in her son’s name, but himself cleared the loan installments.
According to reports, Vikas had given Vinay a piece of land in Dubagga that was used to operate a car wash service.
“Usually, my brother came home by 11 pm. On Thursday, however, he didn’t return. So, I called him around 1 am and that was the last time we spoke. He told me that he was at Vikas Kishore’s house (where he was later found dead) on Begariya Road under the Thakurganj police station limits,” said Vinay’s youngest brother Vikrant.
The family members said they had celebrated Raksha Bandhan in the morning, after which Vinay left the house only to never return.
“All my sons are young. My son was one of the earning members of the house,” said Chaya.
Meanwhile, joint commissioner of police (JCP)-Crime Akash Kulhary said necessary action would be taken to cancel the gun licence given to Vikas Kishore as a 32-bore pistol was recovered from the scene of the crime.
The Lucknow police also claimed that Vinay was under the influence of alcohol, which he had consumed before playing the card game with his friends. However, his mother refused the claim and said, “My son does not drink alcohol. He is a complete vegetarian. There is foul play in his death.”
Also, the family took to the streets to protest with Vinay’s body and decided not to perform his last rites until all the guilty were arrested. Later, the issue was brought under control after DCP (West) Rahul Raj and ADCP (West) Chiranjeevi Nath Sinha intervened.
The last rites were held later in the evening.