Mani Lal PatidarThree days after a businessman was shot at in Mahoba, police on Friday booked suspended Superintendent of Police Mani Lal Patidar and three others for attempt to murder.
The businessman, 44-year-old Indra Kant Tripathi, is currently admitted in a Kanpur hospital where his condition is said to be stable. Before he was attacked, Tripathi in a video had accused Patidar, then SP of Mahoba, of corruption and criminal intimidation.
The other three named in the FIR are suspended SHO of Kabrai police station Devendra Shukla and two local businessmen — Suresh Soni and Brahmdutt.
“Tripathi’s elder brother Ravi Kant on Friday visited our police station and filed a complaint against four persons – Mani Lal Patidar, Devendra Shukla, Suresh Soni and Brahmdutt – for the September 8 attack. Based on his complaint, an FIR was lodged against the four and unnamed policemen under IPC section 307 (attempt to murder), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 387 (putting person in fear of death or of grievous hurt, in order to commit extortion),” Senior Sub-Inspector (Kabrai police station) Dinesh Singh said, adding that no one has been arrested so for.
Police have also invoked charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act against the accused.
This is the second FIR against the 2014-batch IPS officer in Mahoba. On Thursday, an FIR was lodged against him and two other police officers – former SHOs Raju Singh and Rakesh Kumar Saroj – for alleged extortion on a complaint filed by a transport businessman, Nitish Pandey.
IG (Chitrakoot Range) K Satya Narayan said all videos and audios that are circulating on social media would be examined during the course of the probe.
Two Deputy SPs in Mahoba, Shubh Suchit and Awadh Singh, have, meanwhile, been transferred. While Suchit has been transferred to Etawah, Awadh Singh has been made assistant commandant of 43 Battalion PAC in Etah.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Ravi Kant said that they could not file the FIR just after his brother was attacked as they had to move to Kanpur where he was admitted to a hospital.
According to Ravi Kant, local businessmen Suresh Soni and Brahmdutt, who like his brother run a business of supplying explosives for mining, used to pay money to the then Mahoba SP Patidar.
After Indra Kant was shot at, Patidar was suspended by the government.