Three men have been booked for murder after the body of a 26-year-old man was found with a gunshot wound at a Lucknow house of Union minister Kaushal Kishore, senior police officers said on Friday.
The police identified the deceased as Vinay Srivastava, who ran a car washing centre, a friend of Kishore’s son Vikas Kishore (29). The minister’s son was in Delhi at the time of the incident.
According to the police, the Union minister does not reside in the house where the incident took place.
According to police, Srivastava’s body was found under the staircase of Kishore’s Begraiya Kala locality house on Friday morning.
Police said, that one of the accused (who also lived in the same house) informed the minister’s staff at the house that Srivastava’s body has been found with a gun shot wound in his head, who in turn informed the police.
A licensed revolver, issued to Vikas Kishore, was also recovered from the spot, said police.
Lucknow (West) deputy commissioner of police Rahul Raj said the deceased had a single gunshot wound to his head. “It is being said that the gun used in the incident is registered in the name of Vikas Kishore. This is being verified. The gun was recovered from the crime spot,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Lucknow (West) deputy commissioner of police Rahul Raj said the deceased had a single gunshot wound to his head. “It is being said that the gun used in the incident is registered in the name of Vikas Kishore. This is being verified. The gun was recovered from the crime spot,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}The murder was a fallout of an altercation after Vinay Srivastava lost ₹12,000 in gambling, joint commissioner of police (crime) Akash Kulhary said.
Six people, including Vinay, the three accused — Shamim Gazi alias Baba, Ankit Verma and Ajay Rawat — and two others — Saurabh Rawat and Arun Pratap Singh alias Bunty — were playing cards and drinking at Kishore’s house on Thursday night, Kulhary said.
“Vinay insisted Ankit and two others resume the game again as he wanted to recover his loss. They even got involved in manhandling during which Vinay’s shirt button was broken and it was torn. In a fit of rage, Ankit whipped out the revolver of the minister’s son kept in his room below a pillow and shot Vinay from a close range,” Kulhary said.
Ankit Verma has confessed to shooting Vinay Srivastava, Kulhary said.
A case under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code has been filed against the three and section 34 for common intention will be added, Kulhary said.
At an interaction with the media after the incident, Kishore, the Union minister of state for housing and urban affairs, said that his son was in Delhi since Thursday.
Aides of the two-time BJP MP from Lucknow’s Mohanlalganj shared photos of Vikas Kishore’s boarding pass on social media.
Kishore’s wife, Jai Devi, an MLA from the Malihabad constituency of Lucknow, said, “The land on which the house is built is in my husband’s name. The house has not been registered yet. I built it for my son Vikas Kishore who lived there.”