BJP worker shot dead at the house of Union Minister’s son in UP’s Lucknow

LUCKNOW: A BJP worker was found shot dead at the residence of the son of Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Kaushal Kishore, in the old Lucknow area.

The murder took place sometime between 2 am to 2.50 am on Friday, police said.

The victim has been identified by the police as Vinay Srivastava, 30. He was also a close aide of the minister’s son Vikas Kishore. The weapon used to shoot the victim was a licensed .32 bore pistol belonging to Kishore

The weapon has been recovered from the spot by the police.

Lucknow Deputy Commissioner of Police Rahul Raj claimed that a preliminary inquiry revealed that six people namely, Ankit Verma, Ajay Rawat, Shamim alias Baba, Saurabh Rawat and Arun Pratap Singh alias Bunty had come to the house Thursday night and they had dinner together. They also consumed alcohol before starting to play cards. During the course of the gambling, a scuffle ensued between Vinay (the victim) and Ankit to whom Vinay had lost Rs 12,000. Following this, Ankit, Ajay and Shamir stopped the game and Saurabh Rawat along with Bunty went away with the amount won in the game. This infuriated Vinay resulting in the fight among all four. In the scuffle, Vinay’s shirt was torn. As the fight intensified, Ankit took out the pistol of Vikas Kishore from under the pillow kept on the bed and caught hold of Vinay with the help of Ajay and Shamim. He then shot Vinay on his head leaving him dead on the spot.

“A .32 bore pistol recovered from the spot is said to belong to Vikas Kishore. CCTV footage from cameras installed in the house corroborated the sequence of the incident,” said the police statement.

Three persons, Ankit Verma, Ajay Rawat and Shamim were arrested by the Lucknow police in connection with the murder.

The arrests were made after a named FIR was lodged under Section 302 of IPC against them on the basis of the complaint given by the family of the victim.