UP minister admits knowing Kavita, quits RLD

Former UP Irrigation Minister Meerajuddin Ahmed on Monday resigned from the Rashtriya Lok Dal but denied involvement in the Kavita murder case.

In the eye of a storm following the murder of a woman lecturer in Meerut, former UP Irrigation Minister Meerajuddin Ahmed on Monday resigned from the Rashtriya Lok Dal but denied involvement in the case.

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He said he knew the Chaudhry Charan Singh University temporary lecturer Kavita Rani but was innocent.

It was a part of a conspiracy, which he would expose within a week, the RLD leader claimed.

"I did know her. There is nothing unusual in it as we meet a lot of people," he said. On when he last spoke to Kavita, he said, "I cannot recall."

Meerajuddin said he had sent a letter to RLD president Ajit resigning from the party's national working committee.

He expressed doubts regarding main suspect in the murder Ravindra Pradhan's statements made during a press conference in Meerut on Monday.

"This man (Pradhan) was saying something else a day ago. In the beginning, as many as eight names cropped up in the matter and now suddenly the entire blame is shifted on me."

Pradhan claimed to have made a sleaze tape of Kavita in Meerajuddin's bedroom in Lucknow and collected Rs 35 lakh as hush money from him.

He said he murdered Kavita on October 24 with the help of an associate Yogesh as she had been making demands for a bigger share of the money.