AGRA/FIROZABAD: A senior
Samajwadi Party leader from Mainpuri district was found brutally murdered on the Agra-Lucknow expressway in Firozabad district on Wednesday night. The body of Sukhram Singh Yadav, who was a government road contractor by profession and also held the post of vice-president of the party's SC/ST cell, was found inside his SUV near a village under Nagla Khangar police jurisdiction.
Officials who saw the body told TOI that there were strangulation marks on his neck, his face was damaged and the assailants had extracted all his teeth before the murder.
Based on the written complaint of the victim’s wife, Kusum, an FIR was lodged against five people under IPC Section 302 (murder). The accused have been identified as Raj Kishore, Sunil, Jitendar, Ramvilas and Guddi. Officials said that all the accused belong to Nagla Dedu village in Mainpuri and reside near the victim’s house.
The victim’s younger son, Harshit Yadav, said, “On Tuesday morning around 11, my father said that he was going to Agra and Hathras. He left with Rs 20 lakh in cash but did not disclose the purpose of his visit. In the evening when my mother called him, he said that he won't be able to talk right away and that he will call back on Wednesday. However, when he didn’t contact us, we tried to reach him and found that his phone was switched off. Around 9pm that night, police told us that he had been murdered.”
Harshit claimed that his father was under stress for the last couple of weeks but did not share anything with them. “We believe that he has been murdered by his rivals as he got them out of the contract business.”
In her complaint, the victim’s wife has claimed that there was enmity between her husband and Raj Kishore after the two ended their business partnership a year and a half ago.
Mahendra Kumar, deputy superintendent of police and circle officer (rural), said, “Police teams have been conducting raids at various locations to nab the accused.” By the time this report was filed, cops had detained two people for questioning.
Meanwhile, SP’s Dilip Yadav, a member of UP legislative council from Firozabad, said, “The law and order situation has deteriorated. Every now and then SP leaders and party workers are being targeted.”