Wife among 3 held for murder of Hindu outfit leader Ranjeet Bachchan in UP

On January 17, Ranjeet Bachchan visited Smriti Srivastava and tried to force her to celebrate their marriage anniversary on January 18. When she refused, Bachchan assaulted her, said police.

Three people, including the wife of slain Vishwa Hindu Mahasabha (VHM) head Ranjeet Bachchan, were arrested on Thursday in connection with his murder, police said.

Ranjeet Bachchan, 40 was shot dead when he was out on a morning walk on February 2, a few kilometres away from the high-security Uttar Pradesh legislature complex in Lucknow. (PTI File)

Bachchan, 40, who founded VHM, was shot dead when he was out on a morning walk on February 2, a few kilometres away from the high-security Uttar Pradesh legislature complex in Lucknow. His cousin Aditya Srivastava was also injured in the attack.

According to the police, the murder was a fallout of the strained relations between Bachchan and his second wife Smriti Srivastava, who works as a clerk in the state treasury department. The two have a four-year-old child, and have been living separately for the since 2016, said an official.

Lucknow Commissioner of Police (CP) Sujeet Pandey said Srivastava and one Deependra Kumar were in a relationship and wanted to get married.

According to the police, Bachchan had relations with several women and married Srivastava in January 18, 2015, allegedly without telling her that he was already married. Srivastava separated from Bachchan after she came to know about his first marriage and his other relations.

“On January 17, Bachchan visited Srivastava and tried to force her to celebrate their marriage anniversary on January 18. When she refused, Bachchan assaulted her,” the commissioner said.

“After the assault, Srivastava and Kumar hatched a conspiracy to kill Bachchan and recruited Kumar’s driver Sanjit Gautam and cousin Jeetendra,” he added.

According to Pandey, “On the intervening night of February 1 and 2, the accused reached Lucknow in a car and started following Bachchan when he left for a morning walk at around 5.30 am.”

While Jeetendra was dropped at the Capitol intersection in Hazratganj from where he followed Bachchan, and was soon joined by Kumar. The two followed Bachchan till Globe Park, where Jeetendra shot him.

Pandey said Jeetendra and Deependra returned to Rae Bareli from different routes and from there left for Mumbai through train. He said Smriti and Depeendra’s relation came to light while scanning their call record details. Deependra was arrested from a hideout near Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh border while Smriti was arrested from her house. Deependra’s driver, who was driving the car during the crime, was arrested from Rae Bareli.