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Cold Cases: Five high profile murders in U.P. that led police to a cul-de-sac
HT unpacks the circumstances, investigations, and end-results of the probe concerning five sensational murder cases which rocked the state in the last two decades
LUCKNOW In the last two decades, Uttar Pradesh has witnessed a few sensational murder cases that rocked the state. While police were able to expose the conspiracy behind some of these killings, the other cases still remain covered with a shroud of mystery. The recent murders of mafia duo Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj and jailed gangster Saneejv Maheshwari alias Jeeva inside a Lucknow court room has also given rise to speculations and a few conspiracy theories.
In the wake of this double murder, several officials have alleged that the initial report of three assailants shooting the brother duo just for fame was a façade to cover a bigger conspiracy. Expanding on the thought, former IPS officer Prakash Singh, who served as U.P. DGP from 1991 to 1993, told HT, “It is clear that a bigger conspiracy is involved behind the killings of the mafia brothers. The circumstances of the double murder are very mysterious. There are lapses that raise questions over the entire sequence of the incident.”
In this backdrop, HT unpacks the circumstances, investigations, and end-results of the probe concerning five sensational murder cases which rocked the state in the last two decades:-
1. BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai’s murder
Krishnanand Rai (50), the BJP MLA from Mohammadabad between 2002 and 2005, was killed on November 29, 2005, along with six of his associates. The killing took place when he was returning after inaugurating a cricket tournament. A group of seven contractor killers, allegedly led by gangster Prem Prakash Singh (alias Munna Bajrangi), ambushed two SUVs of his motorcade at a narrow bridge in Bhawarkol area of Ghazipur district. The assailants then used automatic rifles like AK-47 and fired multiple rounds of bullets on his motorcade.
“The killing of the sitting MLA, along with six others, was one of the most sensational political murders in the history of Uttar Pradesh,” according to a retired DIG Umesh Singh, who was the additional SP in the U.P. STF back then. Recalling the gruesome murder, another officer, who did not wish to be named, said “Police recovered more than 400 bullet shells from the spot. As many as 21 bullets were recovered from Rai’s body.”
Following the murder, the MLA’s wife Alka Rai accused mafioso-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari and his brother Afzal Ansari, who was five-time MLA from Mohammadabad, and other assailants, including Munna Bajrangi and Sanjeev Maheshwari. She alleged that her husband was killed as the Ansari brothers wanted to keep their hold over the constituency while Rai challenged their might by contesting and winning polls against Afzal.
Case investigation
For the first six months, the then Samajwadi Party government led by Mulayam Singh Yadav, turned down the demand for CBI investigation while claiming that police are capable of investigating the murder. However, in May 2006, the case was transferred to the CBI when Alka Rai approached the Supreme Court. The CBI then filed a chargesheet against Mukhtar Ansari, his MP brother Afzal Ansari, and five others, including Azaz-Ul-Haq, Sanjeev Maheshwari (alias Jeeva), Rakesh Pandey, Ramu Mallah, and Mansoor Ansari.
After 14 years of legal struggle, the special CBI court of Delhi acquitted all the accused for lack of prima facie evidence in July 2019. The incumbent U.P. government, however, has challenged the decision in the upper court and the matter is still pending.
Nonetheless, Mukhtar Ansari and his MP brother were convicted and given imprisonment on April 29, 2023, under the Gangster Act in connection with the Krishnanand murder case. Rai’s nephew Anand Rai said that the MP/MLA court of Ghazipur awarded Mukhtar Ansari 10 years of imprisonment and also imposed a fine of ₹5 lakh on him. Meanwhile, Afzal Ansari was given four years of jail term.
Current state of the accused
Mukhtar Ansari is still lodged in Banda jail in different cases registered against him while his brother Afzal Ansari is a BSP MP from Ghazipur constituency. Another co-accused, Munna Bajrangi, was killed inside Baghpat jail allegedly by another gangster and murder convict Sunil Rathi on July 9, 2018, before the judgement of the case. The second accused Jeeva was killed by an assailant identified as Vijay Yadav, 26, inside a Lucknow court room after entering there in the garb of lawyer. Besides, the U.P. STF gunned down two contractor killers, Firdaus and Kripa Shankar, claimed to be involved in Rai’s killing in Mumbai in April and July 2006, respectively.
Controversy
An audio clip purportedly of Mukhtar Ansari, who was then lodged in Agra jail, surfaced during investigation in which he is informing another gangster-turned-politician about Rai’s ‘elimination’ soon after his killing. The clip is claimed to be intercepted by the electronic surveillance of STF.
In another related controversy, former SSP STF Akhil Kumar, who acquired the court order to get the voice of Mukhtar Ansari examined, suddenly left for a month-long tour to the US on January 3, 2006. As Ansari refused to allow the STF team to go ahead with the examination, it could not be conducted then. Strangely, no further efforts were made to collect the voice sample of the jailed don after Akhil Kumar left the investigation in a lurch.
2. Killing of SP MLC Ajit Singh
Samajwadi Party MLC from Lucknow-Unnao constituency, Ajit Singh, was shot dead at a hotel in Unnao where he was celebrating his 39th birthday on September 4, 2004. “The MLC was shot in the head from behind while he was sitting on a chair but people present there failed to spot any killer. People around found him bleeding profusely when he gradually slumped while sitting on the chair,” said one of his close relatives. He said the MLA was, thereafter, rushed to a Kanpur-based hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.
The MLC’s aide Narendra Pahadi lodged an FIR against Akhilesh Singh, independent MLA from Raebareli Sadar constituency. Singh was believed to be close to the ruling Samajwadi Party dispensation. Gangster Ramesh Kalia and three unidentified people were also booked in the case.
Case investigation
“The then SP government had ordered a probe by the U.P. Police Crime Bureau-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID), even as one of the MLC’s police security guards, Sanjay Dwivedi, who had gone missing after the killing, surrendered before the police in Unnao two days after the incident. The police guard stated that it was an accidental shot from his gun. The CB-CID filed the final report in the case after investigating it for several months and blamed the murder on accidental firing by the guard.
Current state of the accused
The main accused, Akhilesh Singh, died of prolonged illness in August 2019, while gangster Ramesh Kaliya was gunned down in Nilmatha locality of Lucknow nearly six months after Singh’s killing. Police guard Sanjay Dwivedi, who surrendered, was bailed out of jail after being lodged there for a few months. He joined the police force again.
Controversy
The name of a senior politician surfaced in the killing of Ajit Singh, who was MLC from BJP from the same constituency in his first stint before being elected as MLC on SP ticket. People close to the victim’s family say that the MLC was shot dead over political lobbying as he was considered close to the top BJP leadership then and was trying to switch from SP to BJP, along with other MLAs and MLCs. It is alleged that Ajit Singh was intentionally murdered by his own police guard over political reasons.
3. Killing of gangster Munna Bajrangi
Prem Prakash Singh alias Munna Bajrangi (51), one of the co-accused in the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai in November 2005, was claimed to be leading the group of eight shooters who eliminated the legislator and six of his aides. Munna remained at large for many years before being arrested by the U.P. STF from a Mumbai-based residential apartment on September 29, 2009.
Later, Munna was shot dead inside Baghpat jail by another gangster and murder-convict Sunil Rathi lodged there on July 9, 2018. Incidentally, Munna was lodged in Jhansi district jail for the past many years and had been shifted to Baghpat jail only a few hours before he was shot dead. He was shifted reportedly for his appearance in a Baghpat court in a case of extortion lodged there. “There was certainly something suspicious behind the killing. It is very hard to believe anybody shifted merely for a few hours entered into an altercation with another gangster,” Munna Bajrangi’s wife Seema Singh had said while talking to media persons in Lucknow after his killing.
Case investigation
The investigation revolved around Sunil Rathi, who confessed to the crime, after the incident. The investigators, however, failed to recover the firearm used in his killings. Moreover, Sunil Rathi was able to wash his clothes before the arrival of police. Later, cops filed a chargesheet against Sunil Rathi and the case is still pending in the court.
Current state of the accused
Murder convict Sunil Rathi has been shifted to the Tihar jail in Delhi. A few other cases are also pending against him. The investigation into the Munna murder couldn’t establish the role of anyone else.
Controversy
According to a senior police official, the circumstances hint towards a major conspiracy behind the killing. The role of another mafioso-turned-politician of east U.P. is also suspected. Interestingly, the then ADG Prison Chandra Prakash, who is set to retire in May-end this year, was shifted to another wing after the killing.
4. Killing of Sant Gyaneshwar and his seven disciples
Listed gangster and self-proclaimed spiritual guru, Sadanand Tewari (alias Sant Gyaneshwar) and seven of his disciples -- including five young women -- were sprayed with bullets by a group of assailants after intercepting his motorcade at Bagaha crossing in Handia police area of Allahabad (now Prayagraj) on February 10, 2006.
The assailants fired nearly 200 rounds of prohibited bore weapons, including AK series rifles, semi-automatic pistols, on Tewari’s SUV when he was heading towards Rauniya Ashram in Varanasi after winding up his camp at Magh Mela in Allahabad. “The killing of Sant Gyaneshwar and the use of AK series rifles rocked the state and brought memories of the killing of BJP MP Krishnanand Rai to the fore,” said former DIG Umesh Kumar Singh.
Case investigation
After the sensational murders, Sant Gyaneshwar’s elder brother Indra Deo Tewari lodged an FIR against the then SP MLA from Sultanpur, Chandra Bhadra Singh (alias Sonu), and his brother Yash Bhadra Singh (alias Monu). The investigation initially suggested that he may have been killed for revenge. Sant Gyaneshwar allegedly killed SP MLA Indra Bhadra Singh, who was the father of Sonu and Monu, in Sultanpur district on January 21, 1999.
In this case, the STF arrested one Akhilesh Singh (alias ‘Naate’) nearly 10 days after the murder of Sant Gyaneshwar and his seven disciples allegedly. According to the investigation, Akhilesh accused Monu Singh (alias Yash Bhadra Singh) for killing Sant Gyaneshwar. The police named the two brothers -- Sonu and Monu Singh -- as well as six others, including Dilip Yadav, Rajiv alias Ranjan alias Dabbu Singh, Vijay Yadav, Gopal, Vikky, and Arvind Singh, in the chargesheet. The local court, however, acquitted all of them in 2021.
Current state of the accused
One of the accused, Dabbu Singh, was gunned down by police in an encounter while all others were acquitted during court trial.
Controversy
The allegations against the two brothers MLA Sonu Singh and Monu Singh created a flutter in the political circles. Monu was considered to be the prospective candidate for MLA ticket from the Samajwadi Party in the 2007 assembly elections. However, his ticket was denied in the wake of the murder. His political career failed to take off as a result. It was claimed that political masters of the two brothers used their personal enmity to eliminate Sant Gyaneshwar.
5. Killing of BSP MLA Raju Pal
The sensational killing of first time BSP MLA from Allahabad West assembly, Raju Pal, in Prayagraj on January 25, 2005, created ripples in the state politics. The MLA was killed only three months after he won polls against Atiq Ahmed’s younger brother Khalid Azeem (aka Ashraf). Earlier, Atiq Ahmed was the MLA from the same seat and it was left vacant after he became an MP from the Phoolpur parliamentary constituency in 2004.
Case investigation
Raju Pal’s newly married wife Pooja lodged an FIR against Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf as well as his unidentified aides. The investigation remained with the U.P. police for 11 years before it was transferred to the CBI in 2016 when Pooja approached the Supreme Court expressing her dissatisfaction over the investigation led by state police. Subsequently, the CBI filed a chargesheet against Atiq, Ashraf, and five others in 2019.
Current state of the accused
The two prime accused -- Atiq and Ashraf -- were shot dead by three assailants. The double murder took place when the two were being taken for medical examination to Motilal Nehru (Colvin) divisional hospital by police on April 15. Another accused in Raju Pal murder case, Abdul Kavi, surrendered before the court of special judge CBI in Lucknow recently on April 5 after remaining absconding for nearly 18 years. The case, however, is still pending in the CBI court.
Controversy
The Samajwadi Party, which was in power in the state during Raju Pal’s killing, had to face a huge backlash for ‘patronising’ Atiq and his brother. It was said that Raju Pal was murdered with the consent of some senior state authorities and they were aware about each move of the killers.
