LUCKNOW: Three miscreants shot the main accused in a murder case dead right in front of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) on a Bijnor Court premises on Tuesday. The incident took place while the hearing in the murder case was on.
As the assailants targeted undertrial Shanawaz, accused of murdering a BSP leader, CJM Yogesh Kumar was saved by a whisker.
However, a constable and another accused in the same case --Jabbar Ahmad -- a close aide of the undertrial Shahnawaz were injured in the shooting incident.
As per the police sources, the incident could be a retaliatory consequence of the twin murders of BSP leader Ehsaan Ansari and his nephew in Najibabad on May 28, this year.
The police had then arrested a dozen persons including the main accused Shanawaz and his accomplice Jabbar in connection with the case. Shanawaz and Jabbar were arrested in Delhi in October.
However, after the Tuesday shooting incident, all the three assailants surrendered in the court.
Reacting to the incident, UP DGP OP Singh accepted the severity of the incident but expressed the satisfaction that all three assailants including Sahil, the son of murdered BSP leader Ehsaan Ansari, were arrested immediately. “It is apparent that Sahil has executed the crime to avenge his father’s murder,” said the DGP.
According to police sources, both Shahnawaz and Ehsaan were business rivals dealing in real estate.
This business rivalry turned into political rivalry as Ehsaan was already an established BSP leader but Shahnawaz wanted to fight from Najibabad seat but Ehsaan Ansari, himself a contender for the Najibabad seat, was the biggest roadblock in his political aspirations.
This animosity between the two culminated in the murder of Ehsaan Ansari by Shanawaz and his aides.