An inspector with Uttar Pradesh police was Sunday suspended on suspicion of ordering the killing of a Class 8 student in the state capital last month, police said. The case was initially suspected to be one of mistaken identity.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) J. Ravinder Gaur said the inspector is now on the run, but the sharp shooters he had contracted for killing the 14-year-old Maaz have been arrested.
Based on telephone surveillance, the two sharp shooters, Ajeet Rai and Rahul Rai, were found and arrested from Digviniya village in Azamgarh, about 270 km from the state capital, early Sunday.
The two have confessed that inspector Sanjay Rai had contracted them for killing Maaz, and had paid them Rs.2.5 lakh for the job.
Gaur said that Sanjay Rai, posted at the anti-human trafficking cell of the city police, had fallen in love with the cousin of Maaz.
The woman Rai had fallen in love with was a trainee with UP police. She had allegedly spurned Rai's advances. Enraged, Rai sought revenge on the woman's family.
Police said Rai had hoped to implicate a frequent guest at the house of the woman, a man named Akmal, in the killing of the teenaged boy. Akmal was considered the woman's suitor.
Soon after the killing, the sharp shooters slipped out of Lucknow and holed up in Azamgarh.
The police is now on a look-out for the inspector, a man who, in 12 years of service, had an unblemished service record.
The family of the boy who was killed said they were in shock, as Sanjay Rai, a frequent visitor, had been treated all along "like family".
A probe has been ordered into the matter and circle officer (CO) of Ghazipur, Vishal Pandey, would head the probe team.
Raids have been conducted at the official residence of the inspector, who has gone missing.