The Hindu : Front Page : Engineer killed; BSP MLA arrested in U.P.

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Engineer killed; BSP MLA arrested in U.P.

Atiq Khan

— PHOTO: PTI

The body of Public Works Department engineer M.K. Gupta lies outside a community health centre in Auraiya on Wednesday.

LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party MLA from Auraiya, Shekhar Tewari, allegedly involved in the brutal murder of an executive engineer of the Public Works Department, Manoj Kumar Gupta, was arrested near Raniya in Kanpur late on Wednesday.

The engineer was battered to death, allegedly by the MLA and his henchmen in his Gail Vihar colony residence at Dibiapur in Auraiya district around 1 a.m. on Wednesday.

State Director-General of Police Vikram Singh told reporters in a late-night press conference here on Wednesday that the MLA was taken to the Akbarpur police station for interrogation. Mr. Singh said the FIR named two PWD engineers, S.K. Tyagi and Tyagi, as the persons likely to be involved in the murder. The DG said professional rivalry and the practice of commissions on contracts appear to be the probable causes of Mr. Gupta’s killing.

Earlier, fearing a fallout of the incident, with all the major Opposition parties making a case of extortion against the ruling party functionaries, the State government launched damage-control measures. Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh told reporters here that an FIR was lodged against the MLA under Sections 342, 323, 457, 364 and 302 of the IPC. The government would book him under the Gangsters Act. However, charges of extortion were yet to be proved.

The U.P. Engineers’ Association demanded a compensation of Rs.25 lakh for the engineers’ family and security for engineers.

Reports quoting the deceased’s wife, Shashi Gupta, said two unidentified men entered the engineer’s residence in Gail Vihar around 1 a.m. and started raining blows on him. When Ms. Gupta tried to raise an alarm, she was locked up in the bathroom. According to Ms. Gupta, when her husband was rendered almost unconscious, the MLA reportedly arrived on the scene and directed his men to ‘dump’ the engineer in the police station. The MLA and his henchmen took the seriously injured Mr. Gupta to the police station. He was rushed to hospital by the police, where he was declared brought dead around 3 a.m. on Wednesday.

Resignation demanded

Samajwadi Party State unit president Shivpal Singh Yadav and Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee Rita Bahuguna Joshi demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister.

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