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Noose tightened around BJP leader accused of land grab
Police launch search in Noida, Lucknow, Mainpuri, Prayagraj and Fatehpur for the arrest of accused and aides; deceased farmer’s family assured of justice
KANPUR The noose is being tightened around BJP leader Priya Ranjan Diwakar after a farmer Babu Singh, 52, accused him and his aides of grabbing 10 bighas of his land and committed suicide by jumping in front of a speeding train in Kanpur on September 9.
Commissioner of police RK Swarnkar assured Singh’s wife Bittan Devi of justice, saying: “Those responsible will go to jail…the police are conducting raids for their arrest.” He told the farmer’s wife and daughters that they could approach him directly in case of any issue.
In his suicide note addressed to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Babu Singh, a resident of Chakeri in Kanpur, alleged that Ranjan usurped his farm land by giving him a bogus cheque of ₹6.25 crore, stating that this was the reason for his extreme step. The note was found near the track, said police.
The police booked six people, including Priya Ranjan Diwakar, his nephew Jitendra, driver Bablu, Noida businessman Rahul Jain, Madhur Pandey and Shivam Singh Chauhan on charges of abetment to suicide and cheating on a complaint filed by the wife of the deceased on Sunday.
The FIR was lodged under sections 306 (abetment to suicide), 506 (insult), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy), said police.
Ranjan, a member of the state commission for protection of child rights and former BJP candidate from Kishni assembly constituency in Mainpuri, allegedly offered to buy the land from Singh by pressuring him. Giving in to the “pressure tactics”, Singh agreed to sell the property for ₹6.25 crore, for which he was given a cheque, alleged the farmer’s wife Bittan Devi, 45.
After Babu Singh transferred the land through registry in March, 2023, Ranjan asked him for the cheque on the pretext of an error that needed to be fixed. He promised that Singh would get the cheque the next day, but did not pay the money, according to the FIR lodged with the Chakeri police against the BJP leader and five others.
Bittan Devi said her husband was running from pillar to post after this forgery, and was very disturbed on seeing that Priya Ranjan and others had started selling the plots in Ahirvan village in suburban Kanpur.
“He left the house on September 9 evening and did not come back. We searched for him and came to know about his suicide, Priya Ranjan and his henchmen have destroyed us,” said Bittan Devi, accompanied by her daughters Ruby and Kajal. “The registry is illegal as no money was paid to us - neither by cheque nor by any other means. The bank account details of my husband will make it clear that not a single rupee has been paid,” she added.
The investigation in the case is being monitored by joint commissioner of police (law and order) Anand Prakash Tiwari.
The JCP said bank accounts linked to the accused and his aides have been seized. Two are of prime accused Priya Ranjan, two of Rahul Jain, three of Shivam Singh Chauhan, one each of Babloo Yadav, Jitendra Yadav and Madhur Pandey.
“The police have obtained the certified copies of the registry agreement between the two parties and will get details of the bank accounts from Kanpur and Noida branch of the bank. The police are conducting raids for the arrest of the accused,” he added.
On Thursday, the police carried out searches in Noida, Lucknow, Mainpuri, Prayagraj, Fatehpur and questioned 50 people.
JCP Anand Prakash Tiwari said the teams got important clues and the accused would be arrested soon. “It has been corroborated that no money was paid to the family against the land deal. We have sent the suicide note to the forensic science lab in Lucknow,” he added.
