Lawyer shot dead inside court complex, 1 held
LUCKNOW : A lawyer was shot dead allegedly by another on the district court premises in western UP’s Shahjahanpur district on Monday over an old rivalry, following which four cops were suspended for negligence, said police.
Bhupendra Pratap Singh, 40, was found dead in the record room on the second floor of the court complex around 11:40am. Cops arrested a lawyer, Surendra Kumar Gupta, for the alleged murder of Singh who had a long standing property dispute with him.
“Surendra has confessed his crime before the police,” said S Anand, SP (Shahjahanpur). Singh had filed two dozen cases against Gupta. Upset over this, Gupta allegedly killed him, said cops.
An FIR of murder (Section 302 of the IPC) and criminal conspiracy (Section 120B of the IPC) was lodged against Gupta at Sadar Bazar police station of Shahjahanpur.
Taking strong exception to a serious crime like murder on the court premises, four police personnel, including an inspector, were placed under suspension, said ASP (City) Sanjay Kumar.
People in the nearby offices said they rushed to the record room after hearing a gunshot and found Singh dead. Singh had an injury on the side of his head and his clothes were soaked in blood, said the SP.
“A country-made .315 bore pistol was also found near the body. We have sent the body for a post-mortem examination and formed a team to investigate into the case,” he said.
The SP, along with Shahjahanpur DM Indra Vikram Singh and other senior officials, reached the spot minutes after the incident. A forensic field unit was also called in to collect evidence from the site.
Advocates in the district, launched an indefinite strike,
ADVOCATES IN THE DISTRICT LAUNCHED AN INDEFINITE STRIKE, DEMANDING THE KILLER’S IMMEDIATE ARREST
demanding the killer’s immediate arrest.
The incident raised questions over the security arrangements on court premises.
Opposition party leaders condemned the incident and took pot shots over the law and order situation in the state. “The judicial fraternity is an integral pillar of our democracy. The brutal murder of an advocate on court premises in broad daylight is another chilling reminder that no one is safe in today’s UP - not women, not farmers and now not advocates,” tweeted Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Former UP chief minister and president of Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav took a jibe at the government and tweeted, “The public murder of the lawyer in the court complex in Shahjahanpur has exposed the truth behind the false propaganda of the ‘encounter sarkar’. Under the BJP government, UP has become ‘number one in ease of doing crime’.”
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati tweeted, “The murder of a lawyer on the court premises of Shahjahanpur is very sad and shameful, which exposes the law and order situation under the BJP government here and their claims in this regard. Now, finally the question arises that who is safe in UP? The government should pay proper attention to this.”
SP CHIEF AKHILESH YADAV SAID UNDER THE BJP GOVERNMENT, UP HAS BECOME ‘NUMBER ONE IN EASE OF DOING CRIME’