The officer, Manilal Patidar, has not yet been arrested (Archive)
Lucknow:
An IPS (Indian Police Service) officer in Uttar Pradesh will be charged with murder 24 hours after a businessman who had accused him of threats and extortion died in a hospital in Kanpur.
The officer, Manilal Patidar, is the former chief of police for the state’s mining-rich Mahoba district. The businessman, who was found shot in the neck in his car on a highway near the city of Mahoba, died in critical care.
Patidar, who was suspended by the UP government last week on corruption charges, was charged for the first time with extortion on the orders of the chief minister, Yogi Adityanath. Based on a complaint from the family of the deceased businessman, he was later charged with attempted murder and conspiracy.
The officer has not been arrested, so far, in any of the cases.
The police have not yet questioned him or the other police officers whose names appear in the FIR, and a senior police official said today that the Police Superintendent (SP) “was not available” and that the police teams had asked him. they were looking for.
“… since the businessman has passed away, from an attempted murder case it will now become a murder case. We will take them for questioning as it is a very serious matter, (but) because he (the SP) is not available we have sent a team to look for him and others named in the FIR. We will question them, “Prem Prakash, Additional Director General (Prayagraj Zone), told the media.
It is not yet clear who shot the businessman, identified as Indrakant Tripathi, or how he ended up with a bullet in the neck inside his Audi on the road.
In the days leading up to his death, Mr. Tripathi, who trades in explosives for mining, released a video statement on social media accusing Mr. Patidar of corruption, threats, and intimidation, and said that if he were to die in any way , the officer should be blamed. .
This video went viral on social media last week.
“We want Patidar to be arrested. He is an influential person. He and his people can harm our family,” Tripathi’s brother told the media in Kanpur.
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