Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh gangster Sanjeev Maheshwari, also known as Jiva, who was shot dead in police custody on Wednesday, has been accused of killing, looting and dacoying not only in Uttarakhand but also in Muzaffarnagar, Ghazipur and Farhabad districts. The incident was listed on the resume. Kidnapping, extortion, forgery.
His criminal record accessed by ThePrint shows that he was “the leader of an interstate gang of 10 members and 26 entourage.”
Jeeva, 48, from Adhanpur village in Muzaffarnagar, was allegedly linked to the murdered gangster Munna Bajrangi, an imprisoned Don-turned-politician gangster in Mukhtar Ansari’s gang.
Jeeva has been accused in multiple cases, but was convicted only of the murder of BJP MLA Brahm Dat Dwivedi in 1997 and was serving a life sentence in Lucknow District Prison. According to UP police records reviewed by ThePrint show, he has been acquitted in 17 other cases, including the 2005 murder of BJP MLA Krishnand Rai.
Ziba was allegedly killed inside the SC/ST court in Lucknow by a man dressed as a lawyer while being escorted by police to court for a hearing in another case.
The killings follow the shooting of gangster-turned-politician Atiku Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in police custody on 15 April in the UP’s Playa Graj.
Police said Jeeva’s killing took place outside the courtroom of Additional District Judge Narendra Kumar at around 3:50 p.m., with an infant girl and two constables Lal Mohammed and Kamlesh. seriously injured.
The man who allegedly fired at least five to six bullets into Jeeva was identified as Vijay, aka Anand Yadav. He is being sued under the Protection of Children from Sexual Crimes Act (POCSO) in connection with the rape of a minor. He was arrested and beaten by a lawyer in court before being handed over to the police.
A few hours after the incident, the Jaungpur police team arrived at Yadav’s home in Sultanpur village, where he was out on bail.
According to Lucknow police, Yadav is facing a separate case in Jaungpur under Indian Penal Code Sections 186 (voluntary obstruction of duty) and 269 (negligible acts that may spread disease). .
The UP government, led by Yogi Adityanat, issued a statement on Wednesday evening, in which CM ordered a high-level investigation into the case by a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), including Police Director General (Technical Department) Mohit Agarwal. announced that it did. , Lucknow Police Joint Chief (Crime) Mr. Nirabja Chowdhury and Inspector General (Ayodhya) Mr. Praveen Kumar.
He added that the SIT plans to submit its findings within a week and that the CM has ordered the infant girl and the injured constable to be provided with the best possible medical treatment.
Lucknow Zone additional secretary-general Piyush Mordia told media sources on Wednesday that all the injured were in stable condition.
“The reason behind the incident is under investigation. Only one perpetrator committed the crime. Our primary motive is to establish peace,” he said.
Late Wednesday night, Special Secretary for Law and Order Prashant Kumar told media sources that weapons had been recovered from the suspects and similar investigations were underway. He did not respond to questions about whether the weapons were domestic or foreign.
An autopsy report said six bullets were recovered from Ziva’s body and handed over to her family.
Also read: Former UP DGP recalls Atik Ahmed’s ‘reign of terror’ – ‘massive minority support, political patronage’
“The police saw Ziva lying in agony.”
Regarding what happened on Wednesday, civil court attorney Prakar Mishra told media outlets that he saw Jeeva with 56 police officers as he emerged from the courtroom. rice field.
“When Mr Maheshwari turned his back to enter the court, a man dressed as a defense lawyer took out a pistol and started firing at him. ‘ said Mishra.
The man then fired eight to 10 shots around the courthouse grounds, adding that the child was injured in the process. “A police officer on duty who was using a mobile phone was hit in the leg and another officer was also injured.”
“He (the gang) sat on the floor for about 15 to 20 minutes,” Mishra said.
“Police officers kept watching him lying on the floor writhing in pain. After they were convinced he was dead, they picked him up and took him away,” he claimed.
Mishra also said that when Ziba was taken to court, “he was accompanied by 56 junior police officers and was not wearing a bulletproof vest or helmet.”
Defenders also questioned how the shooter was able to smuggle weapons into the compound, even though all eight courthouse gates were equipped with metal detectors. “I saw him (the shooter) throw the weapon on the floor immediately after the killing. He stood there and put his hands up in the air.”
The Lucknow Lawyers Association also wrote to Aditianas about security concerns on the courtyard grounds after Jeeva’s murder. In the letter, the association said the incident had revealed that no one was safe on the court premises and had repeatedly called on the police and administration to step up security.
“The metal detectors at the gates were not working properly, which has caused unwanted elements to attack lawyers and plaintiffs before. Law and order collapsed in Lucknow,” the letter said. It was written.
Wife’s 2021 letter to CJI contains ‘death threats’
In 2021, Jeeva’s wife, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Payal Maheshwari, who ran for the UP parliamentary elections in 2017, wrote to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) that her husband could be killed. expressed concern that it could not
Jeeva was subsequently convicted of Dwivedi’s murder and imprisoned in Lucknow Prison.
In the letter, Payal said that Mr Dwivedi’s MLA son Sunil Dwivedi and the wife of the murdered MLA Krishnanand Rai’s wife Alka (Indian Bharatiya Janata Party leader) “will try Jiva in prison or in court”. They could kill me inside,” he said.
Payal asked the CJI to issue instructions to senior UP government officials to ensure the safety of her husband in prison.
“It doesn’t matter who gets killed, it matters where.”
Former UP Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav told the media on Wednesday that he had sharply criticized the Indian Communist Party-led UP government, saying that if the SP reacted to the issue, the Indian Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the killing would be carried out by the Bharatiya Janata Party. He said he would claim it was done. Party.
“Did they not see the deterioration of law and order? He is still holding events after the incident,” Akilesh said.
“People are dying in police custody or on courtyards. The government seems to have given[criminals]the freedom to go and kill people wherever they want. The question is who gets killed. No, but where to be killed,” he added.
(Editing: Nida Fatima Siddiqi)
Also read: ‘Nahi ru gay t nahi gay’: Atik Ahmed’s last words before being shot dead in Playagullaj
