UP police writes to CBI about row over death of key witness

LUCKNOW: The state police on Friday wrote a letter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informing the agency about the controversy over the death of key witness Mohammed Yunus in the Unnao gang rape and murder case against BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, his brother Atul Singh Sengar and their aides.

Yunus was the key witness in the attack on the minor gang rape survivor’s father, who later succumbed to injuries caused in the same incident. The survivor’s uncle alleged foul play behind the key witness’s death, but the police claimed that Yunus’s family said he died of illness.

Director general of police (DGP) OP Singh said the state police had written the to CBI director Alok Kumar Verma, informing him about the entire controversy.

He said the Unnao superintendent of police (SP) Harish Kumar had also been asked to inform district magistrate Devendra Pandey, recommending that he order a magisterial inquiry in the matter.

He said the CBI and the Unnao district administration will take a final call on the entire controversy over the witness’s death.

Singh said the CBI director had been informed about two separate applications received by the police from the minor gang rape survivor’s uncle and the key witness Mohammed Yunus’s wife Sabina Khatoon.

He said both applications had contradictory statements and facts.

The rape survivor’s uncle had raised apprehensions over the Mohammed Yunus (32), stating that there were possibilities of his murder to favour the BJP MLA and his aides in the case, the DGP said.

He also said the survivor’s uncle demanded that the body of Yunus, who died on August 18, be exhumed and post-mortem conducted.

The DGP said Yunus’s wife stated in her application that her husband died due to a liver ailment at his residence in the presence of several family members. She claimed he was suffering for several months and said she did not suspect any foul play.

He said the woman accused the survivor’s uncle of offering ₹ 8 lakh to her for levelling allegations of murder against the MLA’s aides.

The survivor’s uncle had earlier informed that Yunus, 32, was the key witness in the attack on the survivor’s father, who later succumbed to his injuries in judicial custody when he was sent to jail by local police after being framed in an allegedly fake case of possessing illegal firearm.

He said Yunus ran a small grocery shop at the same intersection in Makhi where the survivor’s father was allegedly attacked by the MLA’s brother and his aides on April 3.

The CBI had recorded Yunus’s statement and made him the key witness in the case against the MLA and his aides.

Earlier, the CBI had filed a charge sheet against the BJP MLA, his brother, three policemen and five other associates for alleged criminal conspiracy to frame the Unnao rape survivor’s father in a fake case.