LUCKNOW: In a major twist to the Ballia murder case involving a BJP worker Dhirendra Singh as the main accused, the district police registered a fresh FIR against 21 named and 30 unidentified persons at the Revati police station late on Friday evening.
According to Revati police station in-charge, Pravin Kumar Singh, the FIR was lodged following the court's order under Sections 147, 148, 149, 307, 308, 336, 506 of IPC and 7 Criminal Law (Amendment) Act.
The fresh FIR has been lodged on the basis of a complaint by Asha Pratap Singh, the sister-in-law of Dhirendra Singh. She had petitioned the court of the judicial magistrate on Thursday seeking an FIR to be registered against the rival camp. Consequently, the court ordered the district police to lodge the FIR and conduct a thorough probe into the matter.
Dhirendra Singh had allegedly shot a local villager Jaiprakash Pal dead in full public view by firing indiscriminately during an open meeting in connection with the allotment of fair price shops in the presence of the SDM, circle officer, SO Revati police station and over a dozen constables at Durjanpur village recently.
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Dhirendra Singh is believed to be a close aide of BJP's Bairia MLA Surendra Singh who had come out to defend Dhirendra before being summoned to Lucknow and served a show-cause notice by the party leadership on the directive of BJP national president JP Nadda.
According to the sources, Dhirendra Singh's sister-in-law Asha had threatened in her petition that she along with seven other women of the family would commit self-immolation if their FIR was not lodged by Friday evening.
So far, police have arrested main accused Dhirendra Singh along with a dozen other accused named by the victim's family in the FIR. Dhirendra had been given in police remand for two days for quizzing on Thursday. The main accused and 35 others have been booked under Sections 147, 148, 149, 302, 323, 352, 504, 506 of IPC and 7CL Act.
Meanwhile, police have recovered the weapon used in the crime. After being arrested from a park in Lucknow, Dhirendra was taken to Ballia and was produced in the CJM court last Monday (October 19). His bail plea was rejected by the CJM and he was given to 14-day judicial remand.