The Yogi Adityanath government on Thursday released a former two-time BJP MLA serving a life term for the murder of Samajwadi Party MLA Jawahar Yadav, less than five years after he was convicted.

Udaibhan Karwaria came out of Naini jail on Thursday morning with a smile on his face and hugged his family members. Some people were seen touching his feet.

Governor Anandiben Patel had signed his clemency appeal after receiving a report from the district administration that his conduct was good in the prison and, thus, could be released.

According to the charges, Udaibhan and his two brothers Kapil Muni Karwaria and Surajbhan Karwaria and their aide Ramchandra Tripathi had fired at the car of Jawahar Yadav alias Pandit, the then Samajwadi Party MLA from Jhusi, at Civil Lines in Allahabad on August 13, 1996.

The police had said that an AK-47 was used in the crime. There were several cases of murder, attempt to murder, criminal intimidation, loot of properties and theft registered against them in different police stations of the district.

Jawahar’s brother Sulakhi Yadav had filed a case against the powerful Karwaria brothers and the case was investigated by the CID. The Karwaria siblings surrendered in 2015 and were awarded life terms on November 4, 2019. They were released on parole many times for “treatment” during their incarceration.

Udaibhan was elected BJP MLA in 2002 and 2007 from the Bara seat in the district and his wife Neelam Karwaria won the adjoining Meja constituency on a BJP ticket in 2017. Kapil Muni was the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP from Phulpur between 2009 and 2014. Surajbhan is a former BSP MLA from Allahabad. The family had a sand-mining business.

Reacting to the state government’s decision to free Udaibhan, Vijma Yadav, the Samajwadi Party MLA from Pratappur in Allahabad district and wife of Jawahar, said: “I fail to understand how someone who is a born criminal and whose entire life is full of crime can be released for good behaviour in jail. The people of Allahabad fear the Karwaria family but he is out of prison now to intimidate people and extort money
from them.”

“Why doesn’t the government release all those who are in jail for committing a crime as serious as murder? I am in touch with my lawyers and will move court against his release,” she added.

BSP chief Mayawati had suspended Kapil Muni and Surajbhan from the party in 2016, arguing that they were preventing other Brahmin leaders of Allahabad and surrounding districts from flourishing.

A political observer in Lucknow said: “The BJP believed it had annoyed the Brahmins of the state following the encounter of (gangster) Vikas Dubey in Kanpur in 2020. The party is correcting its mistake.”