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Chargesheet claims Baddo hatched murder conspiracy, hired assailant for ₹50L
he chargesheet was submitted to the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) late on Saturday evening. CJM Rishikesh Pandey acknowledged the chargesheet and scheduled the next hearing in the case for September 6.
LUCKNOW The chargesheet filed in the murder case of jailed mafioso-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s henchman and gangster Sanjeev Maheshwari, also known as Jeeva (48), has revealed a significant criminal conspiracy. According to senior police officials, Jeeva was shot dead on the orders of west UP’s biggest mafioso, Badan Singh, alias Baddo.
This information was disclosed in the chargesheet filed by the inspector in-charge of Wazirganj police station, Manoj Mishra, who serves as the main investigating officer in the murder case. The chargesheet was submitted to the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) late on Saturday evening. CJM Rishikesh Pandey acknowledged the chargesheet and scheduled the next hearing in the case for September 6.
The investigation was conducted under the supervision of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) -- comprising the then Additional Director General of Police (Technical), Mohit Agarwal (now ADG Anti-Terror Squad); the then Lucknow’s Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Nilabja Choudhury (now JCP Kanpur); and Inspector General of Police (Ayodhya range), Praveen Kumar, among others. The state government established the SIT to probe lapses and oversee the case investigation.
SIT head Mohit Agarwal confirmed that Baddo has been accused in the chargesheet under IPC section 120-B for criminal conspiracy, along with the key accused Vijay Yadav, alias Anand Yadav (24), a resident of Kerakat, Jaunpur. Vijay Yadav entered the court posing as a lawyer and shot Jeeva dead at the entrance of a special court designated for SC/ST cases on June 7.
Agarwal further stated that Vijay Yadav met Badan Singh Baddo in Nepal, where he was contracted to kill Jeeva, promising him ₹50 lakh in return. Police have also discovered an application from Jeeva’s lawyer, in which he requested video conferencing for appearances in cases under trial in Muzaffarnagar, citing a life threat from Badan Singh Baddo.
Notably, U.P’s “most stylish Mafioso”, Badan Singh, alias Baddo, known for his lavish lifestyle, had carried a ₹5 lakh reward since May 25. He had escaped from police custody at a Meerut hotel in March 2019, after drugging police personnel, and has reportedly been living in Australia since then.
Agarwal further stated that investigators have found additional evidence of a criminal conspiracy involving Baddo and his gang members in the crime. Some suspicious individuals were observed assisting Vijay Yadav in entering the court and other activities in CCTV footage retrieved from various locations.
Another police official, privy to the investigation, said that the chargesheet was filed against the key accused Vijay Yadav under Indian Penal Code sections, including 302 for murder, 307 for attempted murder, 332 for causing hurt to a public servant in the discharge of his duty, 353 for assault or use of criminal force against a public servant, as well as section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment (CLA) Act, and sections 3/25/27 of the Arms Act. Baddo has been accused under section 120 of IPC for criminal conspiracy.
The chargesheet was filed nearly 88 days after the start of the investigation. The CJM has instructed to provide a copy of the chargesheet to the key accused Vijay Yadav and has summoned him to appear in court on September 6. According to police, only one weapon, a .357 bore Magnum ALFA series revolver, along with six bullet shells, was recovered from him.
Notably, the FIR lodged in the matter by sub-inspector Udai Pratap Singh stated that he, along with nine other officers, had brought Jeeva to the court of Special Judge SC/SCT from Lucknow district jail at around 11:30 am on June 7.
The FIR further noted that Jeeva was shot dead by Vijay Yadav when the police were escorting Jeeva back to the courtroom from a toilet at around 3:15 pm. The complainant also mentioned that head constables Lal Mohammed and Kamlesh Chowdhary, deployed on duty, suffered bullet wounds during indiscriminate firing, while a girl later identified as Laxmi sustained a bullet wound while she was present nearby with her mother. The girl had come to the court with her parents Saurabh Kumar and Neelam in connection with a separate case before the court.
