Accused in BJP leader’s murder case surrenders in Noida fearing an encounter
Sheru Bhati, The accused told the police that he was scared that he will be eliminated in an encounter by the UP police and that is the reason he decided to surrender
noida Updated: Mar 26, 2018 23:06 IST
Noida: Fear of encounter is making wanted criminals surrender in Gautam Budh Nagar. A wanted criminal allegedly involved in the murder of a Bharatiya Janata Party leader surrendered at the Bisrakh police station of Greater Noida on Monday afternoon.
Accused Sheru Bhati is a relative of dreaded criminal Sundar Bhati, who is presently in jail. Sheru also had a bounty of ₹50,000 on his head. Sheru is accused of being involved in the murder of local BJP leader Shiv Kumar.
The accused told the police that he was scared that he will be eliminated in an encounter by the UP police and that is the reason he decided to surrender.
However, the way Sheru surrendered has raised many questions about the credibility of the whole incident. Police is facing criticism for allegedly staging the whole surrender episode. Sheru is expected to have connections with the local political leaders. “I was in my office when the accused came to the police station to surrender. We had no clue about his decision. Sheru has told us that he was scared of an encounter that’s why he decided to surrender. We will investigate if the accused has any connections with the politicians,” said Manish Saxena, station house officer.
Senior superintendent of police Ajay Pal Sharma on the issue of encounter has said that his sole focus is to maintain law and order and many more people are going to surrender in the coming days. “Four more accused are going to surrender soon as they have got in touch with the police department. I don’t know whether it’s the fear of encounter or anything else,” said Sharma.
The accused Sheru has been absconding for the last four months. One more accused in the murder of the BJP leader, Amar is still at large. Police is now going to question Sheru about Amar’s whereabouts.
The BJP leader and his bodyguard were gunned down by two bike-borne assailants at Haibatpur’s Tigri near the Vijay Nagar-Greater Noida Link Road on November 16, 2017. A minor girl, present at the spot was run over by the BJP leader’s car when the driver, who was hit, tried to speed away from the spot.
On October 2, 2017 also, a man who had attacked two men with a countrymade pistol along with a friend surrendered at the Sangam Vihar police station of New Delhi as he was scared of an encounter in the jurisdiction of Uttar Pradesh.