A BJP leader in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, is facing a police investigation for allegedly assisting a wanted criminal in eluding capture following his detention.
According to a late-night statement by Kanpur Police Commissioner Asim Arun, the BJP leader Narayan Singh Bhadauria’s name was added to the FIR after police discovered a video verifying his presence at the location where wanted criminal Manoj Singh was reportedly permitted to flee.
Over a dozen criminal accusations have been filed against the fugitive, including murder, extortion, and rape.
Mr. Bhadauria is a Kanpur-based BJP politician who also has a position inside the party’s local organization.
The event occurred on Wednesday afternoon in Kanpur’s Naubasta neighborhood. A squad of UP police officers nabbed Singh outside a paan store outside a guest home where BJP leader Bhadauria’s birthday celebration was being held. According to reports, Singh was also present at the celebrations.
Dr. Veena Arya Patel, BJP’s Kanpur south president, confirmed the sources that Mr. Bhadauria is with the BJP and is a district level office bearer.
‘We are speaking to our superiors in Lucknow and will update you about any action against Narayan Singh Bhadauria as soon as it happens,” Dr. Arya said over the phone.
Mobile phone videos taken by onlookers showed police officers in plainclothes and some in uniform dragging Singh to a police jeep, followed by hundreds of people who were arguing with and pushing and shoving the cops. The police did manage to bundle Singh in a jeep, one of the videos shows.
A second video, taken from a different angle, shows the police jeep in the middle of the road surrounded by a large mob. Suddenly, the mob clears the area and men can be seen running along with all directions on the road. A few cops can be seen giving chase. This is when Singh escaped, say, cops.
“They were successful in freeing Singh. We have filed a case under serious sections of the law. We are taking all steps to arrest the accused,” Raveena Tyagi, a senior police official in Kanpur, said in a statement to the media.
