ALLAHABAD/LUCKNOW: Mafia-turned-politician and independent MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya and 12 others were arrested late on Sunday morning for allegedly attempting to kidnap and murder a BSP-backed candidate in the block pramukh election and his supporters.
Raghuraj, his MLC cousin Akshay Pratap Singh, their associates including Samajwadi Party (SP) MP from Kaushambi Shailendra Kumar and MLA from Bihar Vinod Kumar Saroj were arrested from Raja Bhaiyya's constituency Kunda, 150 km from the state capital.
The arrests came after charges of assault, kidnapping and murder attempt were levelled against them by a block development committee (BDC) member from Babaganj, Manoj Kumar, who is fighting for the block pramukh post election for which is due on Wednesday.
Eight of the 13 named accused of the case were produced before the court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM), Pratapgarh, Manjula Sarkar, who sent them in judicial custody for 14 days. Police said efforts were on to trace and arrest the remaining five absconding accused.
Superintendent of police (SP), Pratapgarh, Om Prakash Sagar, told TOI that Manoj had lodged an FIR with the Kunda police stating that Raja Bhaiyya and his men intercepted his four-wheeler in Kunda area late on Saturday night and assaulted him and his men, threatening them to withdraw his candidature.
As Manoj and his supporters tried to take refuge inside a local police station situated at a short distance, the MLA's goons allegedly chased and assaulted them outside the police station gates. The accused fired several rounds in the air to scare away all those who tried to come to the rescue of Manoj.
Giving the arrest a political hue, leader of the opposition in UP assembly and senior leader of SP Shiv Pal Singh Yadav on Sunday accused the BSP government of using state machinery to meet their political interests. "We will not allow this to happen and stage statewide protests against the unlawful ways to which the BSP government is resorting to for the sake of political gains," Shiv Pal said.
BSP state president and senior minister in Mayawati cabinet Swami Prasad Maurya said that the arrested accused had taken the law in their hands. "They are trying to recreate an atmosphere of terror in the region and the government will never allow them to do so," Maurya said. "The accused had the guts to attack BSP activists outside the police station and fire in air to terrorise them. This cannot be overlooked," he said.
Pratapgarh SP said raids were underway to locate the remaining five accused who had been named as accused in the FIR lodged in connection with the incident.
