Manjunath echo in UP death

The Supreme Court stops a lower court from proceeding on a case of murder of an engineer which has similarities with the murder of S Manjunath, reports Bhadra Sinha.

The Supreme Court has stopped a lower court from proceeding on a case of alleged murder of an engineer, which has similarities with the murder of S Manjunath two years ago.

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Radhey Shyam Roorkewal, who was working on the Upper Ganga Link Canal Project, was murdered because he did not give in to pressure from department officials who wanted to profit illegally from the project, his son Vikas has alleged.

He also claimed that the accused had been threatening his family on account of which they had not appeared in court to give evidence.

In November 2005, S. Manjunath, an Indian Oil Corporation sales manager, was shot dead in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh.

Manjunath, it is believed, had spoken out on the sale of adulterated fuel in petrol pumps. This was seen as the reason behind his murder.

In the Roorkewal murder, Vikas has sought the transfer of the case from a fast-track court in Haridwar to Delhi. The apex court bench has directed the Uttarakhand government to respond to the transfer plea that also asks for a CBI probe. Vikas said police had failed to arrest the alleged mastermind behind the murder.

Before his death, his father he had completed over 80 per cent of the project, Vikas said. “He was appointed to complete the project in a time-bound manner by December 2006 to solve the long-standing irrigation and drinking water problems of western Uttar Pradesh.”

The engineer was murdered on June 18, 2006, in his camp office in Roorkee. Four persons were arrested in August the same year.

But the family started getting threats from the gang of the accused after the arrests. The threats forced them to leave Roorkee. They were so scared that no one has appeared in court to give evidence, Vikas said.