LUCKNOW: The preliminary probe conducted by the Lucknow police into the murder of gangster Sanjeev Jeeva on Lucknow district court premises on Wednesday revealed that assailant Vijay Yadav, 24, was offered a contract of Rs 20 lakh to kill Sanjeev Jeeva. Yadav, who had fired 7-9 rounds of the bullet was nabbed immediately after the incident.
As per the police, the suspect used a Czech-manufactured Magnum Alfa revolver with a .357 bore, which was recovered by the police used from the crime scene. According to the post-mortem report, eight bullet injuries were spotted on the body of Sanjeev Jeeva. While six bullets had penetrated the main body – torso-- and had made the exit from the other side. Two bullets had hit each hand. The autopsy report said that all the bullets entered the body of the victim from the left side of the back.
Police sources claimed that Vijay, a resident of Kerakat in Jaunpur, had come in search of a job during which he had possibly met the person who offered him the contract to kill Sanjeev Jeeva. Sources added that they are waiting for him to regain consciousness to confirm this.
However, Vijay did not reveal the name of the person on the pretext of not remembering it. Vijay Yadav has two prior criminal records, one registered against him under POCSO Act for allegedly raping a minor in Azamgarh in 2016 and had spent six months in
jail as well. The case was closed two months ago with mutual consent. He was booked again for violating Covid norms in Jaunpur in 2021. His younger brother, Satyam Yadav, a class 11 student, claimed that Vijay used to lead a
very reclusive life.
Drawing an uncanny similarity with the shooters of gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in police custody, Yadav is also a loner and has not interacted with his family members in the recent past.
His mobile phone was switched off for the past several days, his younger brother claimed. As per Vijay’s brother, he had lost interest in his studies after passing class 10. In 2021, he left for Maharashtra to work in a pipe company.
“He hardly calls up to talk to us. Our mother Nirmala Devi cries a lot to talk to him but he hardly bothers,” said the younger brother.
Sources said Vijay started working in Lucknow this year at a pipe company.
“Our last interaction had taken place on May 11, and after that, his phone had been switched off,” he added.
Meanwhile, the 18-month-old girl Lado who had sustained the bullet injury and had got one of her lungs punctured in the firing was stated to be stable and out of danger after the last night's surgery. She is still in ICU but out of danger, said the police
sources.
Neelam, the mother of the girl, was also injured as the bullet had passed whisking past her fingers. UP CM Yogi Adityanath paid a visit to the injured including two constables as well, at Lucknow Trauma Centre.
The lawyers of the Lucknow Bar Association struck the work on Thursday in protest against the police slackness due to which, as per their claim, such a crime took place on court premises.