Ex-MP’s name surfaces over alleged links with suspected shooter
PRADEEP SINGH KABUTRA WAS MISSING FROM THE FLAT AFTER THE INCIDENT AND HE WAS SUSPECTED TO BE ONE OF THE FOUR SHOOTERS
LUCKNOW: A Mafioso-turnedformer MP’s name has surfaced in connection with facilitating the shooters in Lucknow before and after the sensational murder of Ajit Singh, the alleged henchman of gangster-turnedpolitician Mukhtar Ansari on Wednesday, said sources in Lucknow police privy to the investigation on Saturday.
They said the former MP’s close aide Pradeep Singh Kabutra, who used to stay at rented flat number E-1303 in Rohtas Plumeria apartments, accompanied the suspected shooters before and after the crime.
Pradeep, who belongs to Azamgarh’s Kabutra village, was missing from the flat after the incident and he was suspected to be one of the four shooters, they added.
A senior police official confirmed that the name of the former MP had surfaced during the investigation and his possible involvement in the crime was being probed. The official said Prince, one of the alleged facilitators in the crime, was in police custody and had been interrogated about the incident.
He said Prince, along with three suspected shooters, came to Lucknow from Azamgarh in a red car on Wednesday afternoon. Prince remained at the Rohtas Plumeria flat while three others left it and returned after committing the crime, the officer added. After a few hours, they left the city in another car, he said.
He said the red car was used by shooters to reach Lucknow and escape from Kamta bus stand after abandoning the two motorcycles used in the crime.
The official said the car was recovered from the parking lot of Rohtas Plumeria and blood stains were also found on its seat, confirming that one of the four shooters was injured in retaliatory firing by Ajit Singh’s accomplice Mohar Singh.
Lucknow Commissioner of Police (CP) Dhruv Kant Thakur said four people, including facilitators and shooters involved in the crime, had been identified. He said one of the facilitators, Prince, was in police custody while efforts were on to track down the three others, including dreaded shooter Girdhari Sharma, whom Mohar Singh had identified and named in the FIR lodged in the matter. He said Sharma carried reward of ₹1lakh on his arrest.
In the shootout, Ajit had suffered 23 gunshots while his associate Mohar Singh sustained a bullet wound in his right leg when motorcycleborne assailants opened indiscriminate fire on them near Kathauta crossing under Vibhuti Khand police station limits.
One bike used in crime was stolen from Mau
A senior police officer privy to the investigation said the owners of the two bikes used in the crime were Azamgarh resident Shiv Prakash Yadav, who is currently in jail in another crime, and Mau resident Shah Alam. He said Ajit Singh had lodged an FIR of extortion and life threat against Shiv Prakash in Azamgarh on September, 30, 2019 while Shah Alam’s bike was stolen from Mau a few months back and the relevant FIR was lodged there.