Shekhar Tiwari, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA from Auraiya, was on Friday sentenced to life imprisonment along with nine others on charges of kidnapping and murdering an engineer, Manoj Kumar Gupta, in Auraiya in December 2008.
The judgment — pronounced by Special Additional Sessions Judge Virendra Kumar at a trial court in Lucknow — comes exactly a week before the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh completes four years in office. Tiwari's wife Vibha was sentenced to a 30-month jail term on charges of destroying evidence.
Nine others sentenced
The others who were awarded the life sentence are Yogendra Dohre, Vinay Tiwari, Ram Babu, Manoj Awasthi, Hoshiyar Singh, who was the then SHO of Dibiyapur police station in Auraiya, Tiwari's gunners Pal Singh and Gajraj Singh, and his drivers Satish and Devendra.
Mr. Gupta, who was posted in the Public Works Department in Auraiya, was allegedly murdered by Tiwari and his henchmen during the night on December 22, 2008. Mr. Gupta was allegedly pressured by the MLA to donate money for Chief Minister Mayawati's birthday celebrations, and was killed when he refused.
Mr. Gupta was kidnapped from his house and taken to the Gas Authority of India Limited guest house in Auraiya, where he was tortured and killed.
The engineer's murder was said to be the fallout of BSP functionaries extorting money from officials as funds for the Chief Minister's birthday celebrations.
While the Opposition parties and Mr. Gupta's colleagues demanded immediate action against Tiwari, Ms. Mayawati put a stop to donations for her birthday celebrations. The case hearing continued for 22 months, and 11 persons were named accused.
Reaction of parties
Reacting to the verdict on Friday, Surya Pratap Shahi, president of the Bharatiya Janata Party's State unit, said it had exposed the real face of the BSP. He said the case underscored the connivance between ruling party functionaries and the police.
Samajwadi Party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said that though Mr. Gupta's family members would be relieved, the verdict had proved that the BSP rule was a black chapter in the State's history.
Mr. Chaudhary alleged that efforts were made by the police and officials to shield Tiwari, but justice had finally prevailed.
