IANS/Lucknow/ New Delhi
Uttar Pradesh minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya resigned yesterday, a day after he was linked to the murder of a senior police officer.
“Raja Bhaiya has tendered his resignation and it has been accepted. The investigation is on and the law will take its own course,” ruling Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav told reporters outside parliament in New Delhi.
The food and civil supplies minister was charged with conspiracy to kill Deputy Superintendent of Police Zia-ul Haq.
Haq was killed with two others in Balipur village in Pratapgarh district, over 100km from Lucknow on Saturday night, during violence that followed the murder of the village head Nanhe Yadav.
Besides Raja Bhaiya, seven of his associates were also booked.
Parveen, the wife of the slain officer, has accused the minister of conspiring to kill her husband as he was investigating a “sensitive matter.”
Haq was first attacked by an angry mob and then shot in the leg and chest from a point blank range, an official said.
The case was registered on Sunday evening after Haq’s family refused to allow his funeral until a case was registered against the controversial minister.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has announced a compensation of Rs2mn to the family of the slain police officer and transferred Pratapgarh Superintendent of Police Anil Rai and appointed L R Kumar as the new district police chief.
The incident is set to create fresh trouble for the Akhilesh Yadav government, which completes a year in office on March 15.
Raja Bhaiya meanwhile said he had nothing to do with the “tragic death” of the police.
He said he was ready for any probe, including one by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Talking to reporters after attending the state assembly session, a visibly relaxed Raja Bhaiya said there was no truth in the charges against him and added the real perpetrators of the Pratapgarh violence and killings would never be apprehended.
“The real culprits will never be caught, because the investigation has been diverted in a different direction,” Raja Bhaiya said.
The independent legislator said he had quit on moral grounds as he never craved for any post or office.
“Holding on to a post was never my idea of politics. I do not want the UP government to be embarrassed because of me,” he said.
He alleged that there was a “political conspiracy” by some people to see him out of the state government.
Earlier, both houses of the state assembly witnessed uproar over the police officer’s killing.
The opposition Bahujan Samaj Party’s chief Mayawati demanded federal rule in Uttar Pradesh.
She said there has been a complete breakdown of law and order in the state.
“There is jungle raj in Uttar Pradesh. The government will complete a year in office on March 15 and even after a year the state government has not been able to get its act together.”
“If senior police officers are not secure, what can common people expect and how will they be safe?” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
She asked the central government to interfere in the matter.
“About one-and-half months back also I had told the central government about the breakdown of law and order in the state. The central government should interfere and president’s rule should be implemented,” she told reporters.