LUCKNOW: Two masked robbers held senior BJP leader Ramesh Yadav hostage at his farmhouse and looted Rs 50 lakh in Kanpur. They entered the house around midnight on Monday, tied Yadav’s hands and feet, locked him in a bathroom and fled with the booty. The incident took place under the Westpara police station area, 20 km from the city.
The police are investigating. Ramesh Yadav, currently the state secretary of the BJP’s Backward Morcha, has served as block chief three times from Bidhuna. In 2022, he also contested the Bithoor Assembly constituency election on a BSP ticket but lost.
According to police authorities, Yadav managed to free himself, came out and alerted his guards. The police were informed and rushed to the spot. Following information about the incident, Joint Police Commissioner Dr Vipin Tada and DCP Deependranath Chaudhary arrived at the spot with a police force. The police authorities said a thorough investigation into the alleged robbery was under way.
Singh said the accused were seen scaling the boundary wall after the crime in CCTV footage. “We are still trying to ascertain how they entered the farmhouse, as no footage of their entry has been found so far,” said Singh, adding that he was still checking what the assailants had made off with.
The police authorities said Singh claimed the assailants had made off with his gold chain, bracelet and around Rs 9 lakh in cash that he had with him.
According to Singh, he returned from Lucknow on Monday night and reached his farmhouse in Neuri village. A few local residents were sitting outside the gate, and after speaking to them, he went into a room around 400 metres from the main gate.
“The door of the room was open… Suddenly, two men, their faces covered with black cloth, barged into the room and pointed a country-made pistol at me. They tied my hands, legs and mouth and shut me inside the bathroom,” Singh said.
About 45 minutes later, when he heard no noise from the room, he began working at the polythene strip binding his legs.
“I came out of the room with my hands and mouth still tied. The moment the guard saw me, he untied me and immediately informed the police,” said Singh, adding that there were four guards deployed at the gate of the farmhouse.