Village chief's son suspect in DSP killing

In what could be a major breakthrough in the killing of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Zia-ul-Haque, son of slain panchayat chief of Walipur village Yogendra Yadav has emerged as a key suspect in the murder of the senior police officer.

Sources said the CBI team, which is probing the triple killings at the village earlier this month, suspects that Yogendra and his supporters may have thrashed and then fired at the DSP killing him on the spot.

Yogendra has been absconding since the violence and remains untraceable. The CBI sleuths have launched a massive manhunt to nab him.

Sources said he emerged as a key suspect after the agency sleuths quizzed some residents of the village in an attempt to establish the sequence of event on the fateful day.

Incidentally, violence at Walipur had started only after the pradhan (panchayat chief) Nanhen Yadav was shot dead by unidentified assailants outside the village. Supporters of Nanhen Yadav and his family members suspected that Kamta Pal of the same village to be behind the killing and went on the rampage torching houses of Pal and his supporters.

Haque, the then circle officer of Kunda, had rushed to the spot on getting the information of violence. He was accompanied by a few policemen including his gunner Imran Ahmed.

Sources quoting some villagers said Yogendra and his supporters surrounded Haque after Nanhen Yadav’s brother Suresh Yadav was also hit by a bullet in the clash and died. They may have overpowered Haque after the cops accompanying him fled and may have killed him. Along with Yogendra, some other locals were also on the radar of the investigating agency.

The government has directed senior officers to ensure security of the CBI team. The directives came after an incident of stone throwing on a CBI vehicle near Kunda on Wednesday.

The agency sleuths had taken two of the accused arrested in this connection to Walipur village and re-enacted the scene of crime on Wednesday. They had also quizzed Nanhen Yadav’s brother Phoolchand Yadav and took into their possession the licensed arms that the family had.

The probe team has not so far quizzed the sacked UP minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhiaya, who has also been booked in the killings.