IN A major breakthrough, Allahabad police arrested accused Akhilesh Singh for February 10 murder near Handia of eight persons including Sant Gyaneshwar, following an encounter near Medical College today.
Another accused Rajeev alias Ranjan alias Dabbu Singh managed to escape on mobike. Police recovered a revolver and five cartridges from the possession of Akhilesh. Both accused had come to the house of one Arvind Singh at GIC staff quarters, to collect their share of the ‘supari’ given to them by Yash Bhadra Singh alias Monu, younger son of Sultanpur MLA Indra Bhadra Singh. The MLA had been allegedly murdered at the behest of sant Gyaneshwar several years ago in Sultanpur.
As Arvind Singh and Monu Singh belonged to the same village in Sultanpur, the assassins had used the residence of Arvind Singh as their local hideout.
The arrest was the result of sustained efforts by additional SP STF Ashok Tripathi and his team including the SOG, said SSP Vijay Singh Meena.
Electronic surveillance of mobile phones helped the police in getting to the assassins even though they had kept their mobiles switched off most of the time, he said.
The murder plan was hatched by Monu Singh who was also present at the scene of murder, admitted Akhilesh.
Monu Singh and some others were monitoring the movement of the seer and had informed the shooters on their mobile phone when the seer finally left the Magh Mela grounds, said the SSP. Three vehicles including the Tata Victa abandoned near the murder site by the killers, a Scorpio and a Safari were used in this murder which had kept the cops of several districts on their toes since February 10, he added.
The seer and seven of his close disciples, including two men and five women, were killed by this gang headed by Monu Singh while they were proceeding to Rohania Ashram in Varanasi on the fateful day.
{{/usCountry}}The seer and seven of his close disciples, including two men and five women, were killed by this gang headed by Monu Singh while they were proceeding to Rohania Ashram in Varanasi on the fateful day.
{{/usCountry}}It was a revenge killing masterminded by Monu Singh who had picked up professional killers from Azamgarh, Jaunpur and other places. They did not belong to any particular gang but were converted into a gang by Monu, added the SSP.
Though Akhilesh also mentioned the name of MLA Chandra Bhadra Singh, elder son of Indra Bhadra Singh, the SSP said there was no evidence to suggest his involvement in this mass murder so far. Even the arms and ammunition were arranged by Monu Singh , said the SSP .
Meanwhile, SSP Vijay Singh Meena denied that the police had also arrested Ranjan Singh alias Dabbu when a scribe brought to his notice that the family members of Dabbu had sent a fax to the CM about his arrest by the police.
The fax also reportedly mentioned that the police for unknown reasons had not disclosed the arrest of Dabbu.