UP STF foils plot to murder BJP MLA, nabs gangster, henchmen

The UP Special Task Force (STF) on Friday night foiled a conspiracy to murder Sushil Singh, the BJP MLA from Saiyadraja assembly constituency in Chandauli district of eastern Uttar Pradesh, and two others by arresting a gangster and his two henchmen in Varanasi, a senior STF official said.

Inspector general (IG) of police, STF, Amitabh Yash said those arrested were identified as Shiv Prakash Tewari alias Dhoni of Basti, Manish Kesarwani and Anjani Singh, both resident of Prayagraj. Tewari carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his capture. A country made pistol and live cartridges were recovered from their possession, the IG said.

The three arrested men were members of a gang of hired killers, he said, adding that Tewari was wanted in multiple cases of murder and attempt to murder in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.

The IG said Tewari revealed during interrogation that he and his two accomplices had come to eliminate BJP MLA Sushil Singh, Ajay Mardah and Sunny Singh at the behest of one Amar Nath Chaubey alias Kakku.

He said Chaubey had arranged their stay in Varanasi and they were planning to attack the MLA and two others.

Chaubey believed that the MLA was behind the killing of his father around 10 years ago, Tewari said, according to the police.

Tewari was involved in the attack on Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Vijay Agarwal on June 20 and the murder of Hindu Yuva Vahini state convenor Vishnu Dutt Ojha in Basti on July 25, 2011, Yash said.

While six other accused in the conspiracy of Ojha’s murder were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2018, Tewari had jumped bail after his arrest.

The IG said Tewari was also involved in violence inside Basti jail in 2012 in which three prisoners were killed, besides several other criminal cases in the past few year.

Police teams from Bihar and other districts of Uttar Pradesh were also questioning Tewari, he said.

First Published: Aug 09, 2019 23:14 IST