Bantu still in coma, builder untraceable

LUCKNOW: Even as two of his close associates have been arrested for allegedly being a part of the conspiracy to kill Samajwadi Party corporator Atul Yadav alias Bantu, who is still in coma, one of the prominent builders of the city, Siraj Iqbal is still untraceable for the city police.

The cops arrested Shaan Alam and Mundar, both associates of Iqbal, in connection with the case on Wednesday. The cops also recovered an illegal .32 bore pistol from Mundar’s possession.

Vijaymal Yadav, inspector, Hazratganj police station said that Shaan and Mundar were arrested after police received substantial evidences against them. The inspector added that efforts were on to trace Iqbal and further probe was on to confirm the builder’s involvement in the attack.

Earlier after their arrest, police had claimed that only Shiv Yadav, one of the arch rivals of Bantu, and his associate Vaishnav were involved in the attack. However, during an interaction with reporters, Shiv had revealed that the builder’s two associates had incited him and provided the firearm to eliminate Bantu.

The corporator’s family has also accused Iqbal as the main conspirator, but police were trying to play down the matter by arresting his associates, said a close associate of Bantu while requesting anonymity.