The mother of the BJP worker found shot through the temple at a Union minister's house in rural Lucknow has alleged that he was killed in connection with a dispute relating to a land racket run by the BJP politician’s son.
Police claim that Vinay Srivastava, 28, was killed on Friday by a fellow BJP worker after a fight over a card game but Chhaya Srivastava, the mother, alleged a “well-planned” murder.
Kaushal Kishore, Union minister of state for housing and urban affairs, has acknowledged that the murder weapon belongs to his second son Vikas, who lives in the house in Begariya village. But he said Vikas was away in Delhi visiting his ailing mother when the murder happened. Kishore himself lives in another village.
Vinay’s family said Vikas bought land in the name of his henchmen such as Vinay – usually at cheap rates through arm-twisting tactics --- and resold it at a profit. Chhaya said some people close to the minister's son wanted to grab a plot that was in Vinay's name.
"The police arrested (BJP workers) Ankit Verma, Ajay Rawat and Shamim Baba but didn’t touch Arun Pratap Singh and Saurabh Rawat, who were also there,” she told reporters.
"Vikas had acquired 52 bighas of land that was to be registered in the names of Vinay and Arun. Another 6,500sqft of land was already registered jointly in the names of Vinay and Arun. But some dispute cropped up between them and they wanted Vinay out of the deal.”
She added: “A few days ago, Vinay told us he wanted to transfer his part of the land to one of his two siblings but they suggested he do so in my name.”
Kishore, the minister, has confirmed that all these men were BJP cadres and worked for Vikas but not clarified what his son does for a living.
“It was a well-planned murder. The police will do whatever Kishore wants. The police said Vinay’s friend Ankit shot him after a quarrel over a card game but they haven’t recovered a single card from the spot,” Chhaya said.
“My son was beaten before being shot. The police told us they found Vinay’s broken wristwatch in a flowerpot outside the room where his body was found. His shirt was torn.”
She added: “Vikas would take Vinay along wherever he went. Vikas always carried his pistol. But that day, he went to Delhi alone and left his pistol under his pillow. These things were not normal.
“We saw CCTV footage that is in possession of Thakurganj police station: it shows Vinay following Arun out of the room at 4.07am before suddenly returning to the room. Then the sound of firing is heard.”
Vinay’s younger brother Vikrant said: “The police said that all those in the house drank alcohol and played cards for money. But Vinay never drank and couldn’t play cards.”
He added that “some (land) dispute arose between them (Vikas and Vinay)” recently. “We realised this when Vinay wrote on Instagram that there shouldn’t be suspicion between friends.”
Deputy commissioner of police (west Lucknow) Rahul Raj said Arun and Saurabh were not in the room at the time of the murder.
“They drank and ate, and then Arun and Saurabh left the room. The others stayed there and played teen-patti, and Vinay lost to Ankit. While Vinay wanted to play more to win back his money, Ankit refused to continue. Ankit pulled out Vikas’s revolver from under the pillow and shot Vinay after a scuffle between them,” Raj said.
“Vikas was in Delhi. We have booked him for negligently leaving the pistol (under the pillow) and will question him soon.”
