Ballia firing: UP Police arrests main accused Dhirendra Singh, 2 others from Lucknow

Ballia/Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Police on Sunday arrested three persons, including the main accused, in connection with the killing of a 46-year-old man at a meeting attended by senior administration and police officials in Ballia three days ago, officials said. The main accused, Dhirendra Singh, was arrested by the UP Special Task Force from state capital Lucknow, while the other two accused were nabbed in the Vaishali area of Ballia city, they said. With this, police have arrested eight people in the case, which include five named accused and three unnamed accused. There are eight named accused and 20-25 unnamed accused in the case. “Dhirendra Singh, the main accused in the murder of a 46-year-old man in Ballia has been arrested. He was held from Lucknow on Sunday morning near Polytechnic area,” IG of Special Task Force (STF) Amitabh Yash. DIG of Azamgarh Range Subhash Chandra Dubey said, “On Sunday morning, named accused Santosh Yadav and Amarjeet Yadav were arrested in Vaishali area of Ballia city. They were carrying a cash reward of Rs 50,000 on their heads. The properties of the accused will be seized under the Gangster Act.” Among the other arrested in the case are Narendra Pratap Singh, the brother of main accused Dhirendra Pratap Singh, and Devendra Pratap Singh. The three “unnamed accused” who were arrested on Saturday have been identified as Munna Yadav, Raj Pratap Yadav, and Rajan Tewari, Additional Superintendent of Police Sanjay Yadav said. The Uttar Pradesh Police had said on Saturday that it would invoke the stringent National Security Act (NSA) and Gangster Act against those accused in the killing of the 46-year-old man. Under the NSA, one can be detained without a charge for up to 12 months if authorities are satisfied that the person is a threat to national security or law and order. Under Section 14 of the UP Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, a district magistrate can order attachment of property, whether movable or immovable, if there is reason to believe that it has been acquired as a commission for an offense triable under this law. BJP leader Dhirendra Pratap Singh allegedly shot dead Jai Prakash on Thursday as a fracas broke out at the meeting at Durjanpur village in the Reoti police station area of the district over-allotment of ration shops. Accused Singh, in a video that has gone viral on social media, blamed the SDM, CO and police of ignoring his request to deploy police personnel during the meeting and claimed that one of his family members died in the incident while eight were injured. Singh also said that he served the Army for 18 years and that day he only tried to save his family as he saw his 80-year-old father and sister-in-law being attacked in presence of administration officials. His brother Narendra Pratap Singh and one Devendra Pratap Singh have been arrested in the case. Police have formed 12 teams to nab the remaining accused. Police admitted that there appeared to be “laxity” on their part and suspended nine personnel – three sub-inspectors and six constables – posted at the Reoti police station. Sub divisional magistrate (SDM) Suresh Chandra Pal and circle officer of police Chandrakesh Singh were suspended on the directions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath soon after the incident on Thursday.