Two right-wing activists held for killing Congress worker
Saki Naka Police have arrested two workers of right-wing outfits Bajrang Dal and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) for allegedly killing Congress party worker Manoj Dubey (45) on Monday over a Facebook post.
According to police sources, the two accused, identified as Jitendra Mishra and Umesh Thakur, were arrested on Tuesday morning at 10.30 am from Igatpuri highway. Police said, the duo fled the crime scene on motorcycle and reached Vidyavihar railway station, where they abandon the vehicle. Afterwards, they went to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and took a train to Bhusaval. On their way, they got down at Igatpuri station and tried to go on road. Police inspector Sunil Mane said, "We traced them through their IMEI numbers, after they put in new SIM cards in their old phones. Three eyewitnesses to the murder recorded their statements on Monday and placed the duo on the crime scene." Police said Mishra and Umesh were seen attacking Dubey early on Monday at 1.30am near Asalpha metro station, when Dubey was on his way back home after a party.
Police sources said the murder was politically motivated, after Dubey had wished Congress MLA Naseem Khan on his birthday on October 21 and proclaimed that Congress would win the 2019 elections. To this, Suraj Singh, a BJP functionary, had retorted that Congressmen only keep updating their social media status and queried if they actually work, a remark which Dubey found objectionable. This later led to a verbal spat between the duo when they met and they filed Non-Cognisable (NC) complaints against each other. The posts were subsequently deleted.
On Monday, when Dubey was passing through Asalpha Metro station, his motorcycle collided with that of Singh's, leading to a fight, which escalated when Singh joined by three more friends, suspected to be BJYM party workers, who brought along a sword they kept in their office behind the Shiv Narayan temple in Asalpha.
Mishra and Thakur had two more accomplices who attacked Dubey and more arrests are likely to be made as the investigation proceeds, said Navinchandra Reddy, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 10).