Shravan Sahu Murder case: IG and SSP lock horns over cop's reinstatement

Lucknow: Inspector General of Police, Establishment Vitul Kumar and Senior Superintendent of Police Manzil Saini on Monday head each other responsible for reinstatement of Police Line RI Shishupal Singh, who was suspended in the much-touted murder case of Lucknow-based businessman Shravan Sahu.

It may be recalled that on March 21, the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court, comprising Justice AP Sahi and Justice Sanjay Harkauli, had ordered IG Establishment to submit personal affidavit before April 4 clarifying under which circumstances Reserve Police Inspector Shishu Pal Singh, who was suspended for not providing security to the businessman despite SSP’s order, was reinstated.

In her affidavit, Manzil Saini has claimed that order of Shishu Pal Singh's reinstatement was passed on the directives from IG Establishment, while Vitul Kumar put the same blame on her.

"I was in no way involved in the suspension or reinstatement of Shishu Pal. According to the rules, the SSP had to inform about the suspension of a police personnel to her senior officials, but she did not," Vitul Kumar said.

It is worth mentioning that Shravan Sahu was assassinated by unidentified men on February 1 and it was alleged that some police personnel were also involved in the murder. Subsequently, SSP Manzil Saini had suspended RI Line Shishu Pal Singh who did not provide gunner to Sahu despite repeated requests.

Ironically, the suspension was never made on paper, thus, Shishu Pal Singh was reinstated just three days later.

Also Read: HC directs CBI to solve Shravan Sahu murder mystery

Taking the matter into cognizance, the Allahabad HC ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the probe and solve the murder mystery.

The order was passed on a PIL seeking CBI probe into the matter citing allegations against the local policemen of having a hand in the killing.

The Uttar Pradesh government had informed the HC on February 22 that it had referred the case to CBI on February 20 and the court had asked the CBI to take a decision over the same.

CBI counsel told the court on Monday that the matter was still under consideration before the CBI director. The court, however, directed the CBI to collect all documents from police and immediately start probing the case.

Shravan Sahu was shot dead on February 1, and his family had named Aqeel Ansari for his killing. He was in jail from where he allegedly cooked the conspiracy to assassinate Sahu, who was a key witness in the murder of his son.

Later, police also nabbed five other accused in involvement with the case, who are currently in jail. The family members of the deceased have also been demanding CBI probe into the matter.