CBI team camping in Pratapgarh to probe Raja Bhaiya’s role in 2013 DSP murder

LUCKNOW The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has initiated an investigation into the involvement of Raja Bhaiya (53), a former minister and a seven-time MLA from Pratapgarh’s Kunda, in the brutal murder of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Zia-ul-Haq. This incident occurred during a violent clash following a murder in Kunda’s Ballipur village back in 2013.

A five-member CBI team has been stationed in Pratapgarh since Wednesday and summoned the police officers who were on duty at that time for questioning on Thursday. The CBI’s inquiry into Raja Bhaiya, who served as a minister in the Samajwadi Party government in the state, is being conducted in conjunction with the former chairman of Kunda Nagar Panchayat, Gulshan Yadav, and three of his associates: Hariom Shrivastava, Rohit Singh, and Guddu Singh. The impetus for this investigation was a directive from the Supreme Court issued on September 26.

On Thursday, the CBI interviewed Manoj Shukla, who was the Station Officer at Hathigawa police station, responsible for overseeing Ballipur village at the time of the incident. Shukla allegedly left the scene, abandoning Zia-ul-Haq, who served as the circle officer (CO) for the region, when violence erupted and eventually led to his tragic demise, as reported by a senior police official with knowledge of the developments.

The CBI had initially dismissed Raja Bhaiya’s involvement during the earlier investigation, filing two chargesheets that listed 14 accused individuals and 85 witnesses in connection with Haq’s murder. However, on July 8, 2014, the trial court directed the CBI to investigate Raja Bhaiya and his associates. Subsequently, the Allahabad High Court reversed the trial court’s decision, but the Supreme Court, responding to a petition filed by the slain officer’s widow, Parveen Azad, cleared the way for the CBI to investigate Raja Bhaiya’s role.

The petitioner had raised questions about the actions of the police team, which abandoned her husband without sustaining any injuries. Haq had been handling investigations related to sand mining and riot cases involving Raja Bhaiya and his associates, which led to allegations of a potential motive behind his murder. Parveen Azad also challenged the CBI’s charge sheet, which implicated the family of the deceased pradhan, Nanhe Yadav, in the police officer’s killing.