Lucknow/Mumbai: Three people, including the wife of leader of a right-wing Hindu outfit Ranjeet Bachchan, were arrested in connection with his murder, a senior police official said Thursday.
Smriti Srivastava, described as Bachchan’s second wife, her friend Deependra and driver Sanjeet Gautam were nabbed, Lucknow Police Commissioner Sujit Pandey said.
Smriti told police that a divorce case was going on between her and Bachchan since 2016, but he was delaying the process by not appearing for court proceedings. She claimed that Bachchan was creating hurdles in her marriage with Deependra.
Saffron-clad Bachchan, 40, who had founded the Vishwa Hindu Mahasabha (VHM), was shot dead February 2 while he was out on a morning walk, barely a couple of kilometres away from the high-security Uttar Pradesh legislature complex in the heart of the state capital. His cousin Aditya Srivastava was also injured in the attack.
“Those involved in the murder are Smriti Srivastava (second wife), her friend Deependra, Sanjeet Gautam (driver) and Jeetendra (the shooter). Deependra was the person who convinced everyone to commit the crime. Smriti was part of the whole conspiracy. We have arrested all three,” the police commissioner told reporters here.
“Three people (Deependra, Sanjeet and Jeetendra) moved from Rae Bareli at 2.30 am (on the intervening night of February 1 and 2). February 2, Deependra was dropped at Hazratganj crossing, the shooter was dropped near Capitol cinema hall crossing. At 5.40 am, Ranjeet Bachchan, Kalindi and Aditya moved out from their home for morning walk. The shooter followed them in Hazratganj, and attacked them outside Globe Park,” said Pandey.
In another development, the UP Police’s Special Task Force (STF) arrested from Mumbai the suspected shooter in the murder case of Bachchan.
Based on the information provided by the suspect, two others have also been detained, the official said, without specifying the places from where they were taken into custody.
“Based on specific information, the UP Police’s STF, with the help of their counterparts in Mumbai, arrested the suspected shooter from Mumbai,” the official informed.
“During their investigation, the STF had got a tip-off about some suspects. While going through the call details and mobile phone locations of the suspects, one of them was found to have fled to Mumbai in train. Accordingly, the UP STF team reached Mumbai, Wednesday night and arrested the suspect with the help of Mumbai Police,” the official said.
“During his interrogation, police found that he had allegedly fired at the Hindu outfit leader. Based on the information provided by him, police have also detained two more persons in connection with the case,” the official added.
PTI