National

Centre ready to order CBI probe into murder of engineer

Lucknow: The Centre on Saturday said it was ready to order a CBI probe into the killing of the PWD engineer allegedly by a BSP MLA if the Uttar Pradesh government recommended it.

However, Chief Minister Mayawati put a rider saying she would agree if the probe agency takes over the case relating to police recruitment during Samajwadi Party rule in the State. “If the UP government recommends a CBI probe into the killing of engineer M.K. Gupta in Auraiya, the Centre will order a CBI probe into the matter,” Union Minister of State for Home and an MP from the city Shriprakash Jaiswal told journalists in Kanpur.

He said invoking the National Security Act (NSA) and the Gangster Act against prime accused BSP MLA Shekhar Tiwari was just a “face saving” exercise of the State government.

Ms. Mayawati responded by saying “the government has no objection to referring the engineer murder case to CBI but only when the investigating agency accepts all the dozen-odd cases referred to it, including the recruitment scam of police constables under the previous Mulayam Singh Yadav government, which has been turned down.”

She told reporters in Lucknow that if required the government would also order narco analysis test of BSP MLA Shekhar Tewari arrested in connection with the incident as well as the station officer of Dibiyapur police station, where the crime took place, Hoshiyar Singh who has since been suspended.

PWD engineer M.K. Gupta was killed allegedly by Shekhar Tiwari and his supporters after he refused to pay money for birthday celebrations of Ms. Mayawati next month.

Ms. Mayawati said she had come to know that the MLA was a habitual drunkard and it was being ascertained whether someone might have taken advantage of this weakness.

She said Hoshiyar Singh had been posted in the same police station during the SP rule and had close links with Samajwadi Party leaders and it was being ascertained whether there was any political conspiracy behind the incident.

Questioning the Opposition parties’ demand for a CBI inquiry when stern action had already been taken, Ms. Mayawati said the Opposition was “projecting as if the government had something to hide when all the facts have been presented the people.”

“We have nothing to hide and have presented all relevant facts before the people to the extent that even the ruling party MLA has been arrested along with others.” she said. — PTI

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