LUCKNOW: Jailed gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari's aide Sanjeev Maheshwari alias Sanjeev Jeeva was shot dead in police custody by unknown assailants on the premises of a court in Lucknow on Wednesday.
Jeeva, who is serving a life imprisonment in Barabanki jail, was shot dead by unknown assailants dressed as lawyers. The incident took place when he brought to the court for a hearing on an attempt to murder case from 2015.
As per the eyewitnesses, four assailants fired around five to 6 rounds at Jeeva during which an 18-month-old baby girl on her mother’s lap and a police constable sustained injury from stray bullets fired during the assassination bid.
“During the shootout, an 18-month infant, Laxmi, accompanying her parents and a police constable suffered bullet injuries. Their condition was stated to be stable,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Aparna Rajat Kaushik.
Lawyers at the crime scene caught hold of one of the assailants and handed him over to the police. He was identified as Vijay Yadav of Jaunpur. However, the other three shooters had fled the spot.
The shooting incident also sparked resentment among the lawyers who staged a protest against the state police, accusing it of failing to ensure law and order and beefing up stricter security arrangements.
A lawyer alleged that the policemen escorting Jeeva had fled the scene when shots were fired at him and that they took it upon themselves to overpower one of the assailants.
An eyewitness said, "as Jeeva was heading towards the court, a man in a lawyer’s robe, standing outside the courtroom's entrance, opened fire at him. Jeeva, who was hit by the bullet, ran towards the courtroom but slumped to the ground."
The incident comes hardly two months after gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were gunned down by three assailants while being taken in police custody to a hospital for medical examination in Prayagraj on April 15.
The state government constituted a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe Jeeva's killing and security lapses on the part of cops accompanying the gangster.
The SIT, which has been asked to complete the probe within a week, will be headed by ADG (Technical) Mohit Agarwal, government officials said, adding that other members of the team are IPS officer Neelabja Chowdhary and IG (Ayodhya range) Praveen Kumar.
A life convict with 24 cases to his name
Jeeva, originally from Muzaffarnagar, had links with several gangs and committed various crimes over a span of three decades. Although he started his journey as a compounder at a dispensary, he made his entry into the dark alleys of crime by abducting the owner of the dispensary. Subsequently, he joined the Nazim gang of Haridwar, and later, the Satendra Barnala gang.
As per the police sources, Jeeva was one of the main accused of the murder of veteran BJP leader Brahma Dutt Dwivedi in Farrukhabad on February 10, 1997. A trial court on July 17, 2003, convicted him for commissioning the killing of Dwivedi and his gunner and also committing a murderous assault on his driver. The court had sentenced Jeeva to life imprisonment in the case.
He also worked closely with gangster Mukhtar Ansari’s henchman Munna Bajrangi, and later, with Mukhtar Ansari himself as his main shooter. He was an accused in the 2005 murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai in Ghazipur.
According to UP Police, Jeeva, who was booked in Gangster Act 22 times, had 24 cases registered against him in different police stations across Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Farrukhabad, Ghazipur, and Haridwar. His gang had been involved in murders, loot, extortion, kidnapping, robbery and cheating. His property worth Rs 4 crore was also confiscated under provisions of the Gangster Act.
Jeeva's wife, Payal, had contested assembly elections in 2017 on the RLD ticket but lost. In 2021, Payal had written a letter to the then Chief Justice of India expressing fear for Jeeva’s life.
'People are not safe anywhere in UP'
Meanwhile, opposition parties have hit out at the government over Wednesday's incident. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav at a press conference here in the evening said that the law and order situation in the state has worsened.
"It seems that the BJP government has given a free hand to criminals who kill whomever they want, wherever they want. Murders are happening in police custody, police station and court. People are not safe anywhere in Uttar Pradesh," said the former chief minister.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati tweeted in Hindi, "The sensational shooting that resulted in a murder inside the Lucknow court premises is a big challenge for the government in terms of law and order and crime control in UP. There is panic among the public due to such incidents. Government should take strict steps, this is the demand of BSP."
Killings outside courtrooms
Jeeva's killing is just one of many such incidents to take place outside a courtroom in the state. Here's a list of prominent Court killings in Uttar Pradesh since 2015
May 16, 2023: Two men accused of murder were shot at by two assailants when they were brought to a court in Jaunpur.
Aug 17, 2022: A murder accused, serving a prison term in Faridabad jail in connection with another case, was shot dead by three men on motorbikes outside the gate of the Hapur district court.
Dec 17, 2019: A man accused of a double murder was shot dead inside a courtroom in Bijnor when court proceedings were underway.
June 13 2019: Chairperson of the UP Bar Council Darvesh Kumari Yadav (36) was shot dead by a colleague in her chamber on the court premises in Agra.
Feb 16, 2015: A boy entered a Muzaffarnagar courtroom and opened fire on an under-trial in front of a district judge.
(With additional inputs from PTI)