With the arrest of four accused, the Budaun police on Tuesday claimed to have worked out the triple murder of a district panchayat member, his wife and mother. The police said they arrested four of the six accused and also recovered the murder weapon. Two of the accused were still at large, they said. The trio were murdered reportedly over political rivalry between SP and BJP leaders.
The crime was committed in Sathra village under Ushait police station on Monday night. The deceased were identified as Rakesh Gupta, who was a senior SP leader, his wife Sharda, and mother Shanti Devi. According to the police, Ravindra Kumar Dikshit had a rivalry with the victims’ family. Dikshit’s father was murdered some years back and Gupta was named in the case.
Gupta was a leader of the Samajwadi Party and was serving as the district panchayat member. He was at his home when some men barged into his house and opened indiscriminate fire, killing him and his family members on the spot.
Budaun SP Dr OP Singh said: “Based on a complaint lodged by the brother of the deceased, an FIR has been filed at Ushait police station. An old rivalry is said to be a cause of the murders. Ravindra Dikshit, Sarthak Dikshit, Archit Dikshit and Vikram were named in the FIR. They have been booked under Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and other relevant sections of IPC.”
Meanwhile, bodies of two children were found alongside a railway track in Barabanki, police said on Tuesday. Prima facie, it appeared that the children were hit by a train while playing at the spot near Sandauli village in Satrikh area, an officer said.
Harikesh (10) and Ayush (9) were found dead near the railway track on Monday evening. The bodies were sent for autopsy, Satrikh inspector Santosh Kumar said.