The stage is being set to give a clean chit to Ram Murti Verma, Uttar Pradesh Backward Classes Welfare Minister, who was accused of getting the social-media journalist Jagendra Singh burnt to death for publishing reports against him.
The Shahjahanpur police are in the process of giving the clean chit in its report to the DGP about the burning and subsequent death of the journalist, a reliable source told The Hindu . The report is likely to conclude that Singh had committed suicide, a theory which the police held as a likely possibility.
“The report will be ready in a week. Analysis of all the evidence gathered from the spot point that Singh, in all likelihood, committed suicide,” said the source.
The Senior Superintendent of Police, Shahjahanpur, Babloo Kumar, however, said reaching a conclusion about the police investigation would not be “appropriate.” “We will take about a week or so,” he said.
The family has decided not to pursue the complaint. In fact, Rahul, Singh’s son, told The Hindu that they may move the local court to quash the first information report against the Minister.
The Akhilesh Yadav government gave the family Rs. 30 lakh and promised jobs for the two sons of Singh. The government cleared the ancestral land of the family, running to several acres, of encroachment.
Singh was set on fire allegedly by a group of policemen and goons allied with Mr. Verma on June 1 and died on June 8. In the dying declaration, Singh blamed Mr. Verma and the policemen for the incident. Four policemen were suspended and Mr. Verma was booked after Singh’s family filed a complaint.
