Already in the dock for controversial remarks made by some of its Ministers, the Samajwadi Party government received another setback following a criminal case against a Minister of State for his alleged involvement in the killing of a journalist in Shahjahanpur district.
An FIR was registered at the Puwayan police station in Shahjahanpur district on Tuesday against the Minister of State for Backward Classes Welfare, Ram Murti Singh Verma, and five others for their alleged role in the killing of the journalist, Jagendra Singh.
The journalist, who was allegedly set afire by local police personnel on June 1 and sustained 60 per cent burns, died in a Lucknow hospital late on Monday night. It is said that the journalist had posted messages on Facebook about the Minister being involved in illegal mining.
The five others named in the FIR are Ghufran, Akash Gupta, Amit Pratap Singh, Bhure and a police inspector, Sri Prakash Rai. The FIR under Sections 302, 120 B, 504 and 506 was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by the journalist’s son.
The journalist’s family members alleged that the police had conducted a raid on his residence in Avas Vikas Colony in Shahjahanpur on June 1 and that he was set afire by police personnel.
