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Rae Bareli: Murder accused claims cops told him to ‘kill’ wife’s paramour, 3 held
The claim, made by Surendra in a purported video recorded at the murder spot, emerged on Sunday, a day after 35-year-old Ramakant was allegedly killed following a confrontation in Khairhani village.
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A murder accused in Rae Bareli has claimed he went to the police three times complaining that his wife was being harassed by the man he later allegedly killed, only to be told by cops to “kill him” if he was being troubled.
The claim, made by Surendra in a purported video recorded at the murder spot, emerged on Sunday, a day after 35-year-old Ramakant was allegedly killed following a confrontation in Khairhani village.
Surendra, son of Sri Ram, allegedly killed Ramakant, son of village head Ganesh Prasad, with the help of his wife Soni and brother Virendra after an altercation, according to police. Bachhrawan police arrested all three on Sunday.
In the over-one-minute purported video, Surendra is heard saying, “Call the lawyer, I have killed him,” before claiming he had submitted three complaints at the police station and that police allegedly told him to kill Ramakant. He also asks his wife to bring the complaint copy from home.
SHO Shyam Kr Pal told HT that Surendra had approached police in June and the matter was resolved between the two sides. He rejected the allegations against the police.
City SP Ravi Kumar said the allegations made in the video would be verified and the probe would be conducted by CO Mahrajganj Pradeep Kumar.
According to the police statement, Ramakant, a resident of Chhatiya village under Harchandpur police station, had gone to Khairhani on Saturday morning, where he got into an argument with Soni and Surendra over an earlier love affair. “The dispute escalated, with Surendra and Soni allegedly assaulting Ramakant. He later died of his injuries,” police added.
On the complaint of his father, police registered an FIR at Bachhrawan police station under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Police teams collected electronic and ground evidence during the investigation and arrested Surendra, Virendra and Soni on Sunday. Section 3(5) of the BNS, relating to acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention, was subsequently added.
According to Soni’s account, Ramakant allegedly continued to approach her despite repeated objections and earlier complaints. She claimed he arrived by car around 1:30pm on Saturday, while Surendra had parked his car around 200 metres from their house.
Surendra, Soni and Virendra allegedly confronted Ramakant and asked him to leave, following which a physical altercation broke out. Virendra was also injured in the scuffle, Soni claimed. Surendra allegedly became angry after his brother was injured, following which Ramakant suffered serious injuries and later died.
The case involves a long-standing personal dispute. Soni had earlier been married to Amit in 2010 and has two children from that marriage, according to her account. She divorced Amit in 2017 and subsequently married Surendra. She alleged that Ramakant continued to contact and visit her after her second marriage.
The alleged police inaction claim, however, will need to be established through complaint records and the police response rather than the accused’s statement alone, a senior police official said.
