50 years on, Yogi government to recommend CBI probe into Deen Dayal Upadhyaya's mysterious death
LUCKNOW: Reopening the case of mysterious death of BJP ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyaya who was found dead on the railway track near Mughalsarai railway station on February 11, 1968, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is likely to order a CBI inquiry into the incident to bring out the truth after 50 years of the incident.
While his body was found lying on the rail track near Mughalsarai junction which was recently renamed after Upadhyaya, the truth behind his death is still a mystery as to no one knows if he was murdered or it was an accident which claimed his life.
The issue was reignited by Rakesh Gupta, a BJP worker from Ambedkar Nagar, who wrote a letter Union Home ministry in 2017 seeking a fresh probe into the death of Upadhyaya. He claimed in his letter that he apprehended a larger conspiracy behind the death. Taking the cognizance of Gupta's letter, the home ministry has now sought a detailed report on the incident from the Yogi government. The state government urged the railway ministry to provide inputs. Subsequently, the SP Railways, Allahabad, was asked to look into the matter and he submitted his report to the IG railways to be forwarded to the state government.
According to sources, the inquiry officer in his report mentioned that the documents, including the FIR and the case diary related to the incident, were found to be missing but the police station register reflected that three persons were held in the case and even one of them was convicted also.
As per report submitted by the SP railway, the incident took place on February 11, 1968 and case no 67/1968 was registered against unknown persons. Later, three persons - Ram Avadh, Lalta and Bharat Ram -- were arrested. In 1969, Bharat Ram was convicted under IPC sections 379/411 pertaining to charges of theft and retaining stolen property, while the other two named in the FIR were acquitted, the report claimed.
As the law enforcement agencies are trying to piece the information available about the case together, the Allahabad police have been asked to trace if any of those three accused was alive, the railway's officials were contemplating to summon complainant Rakesh Gupta and ask him if he had any evidence in the case.
Deen Dayal Upadhyay was an RSS thinker and co-founder of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, the forerunner of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. He became Jana Sangh chief in December 1967, contested the Lok Sabha election but lost. In 1968 he died a mysterious death.
Those who are probing into the issue are also looking for police personnel and witnesses who were present at the time of the incident.
A senior police official in Allahabad said, "It is near impossible to find someone who was there when the incident took place. It is exactly 50 years and most of the police personnel and either retired or not alive. The same is the case with the witnesses."