Behind fire at Rita house,the smoke: ‘cops didn’t act,they connived’

While local residents claimed they saw the men leaving in vehicles with BSP flags,DGP Vikram Singh and ADG (Law and Order) Brij Lal said they had no information about the involvement of BSP workers in the attack.

The BSP even alleged that the bungalow had been attacked by Congressmen.

Brij Lal said he knew nothing about the background of five persons said to have been held by police. “The identity and antecedents of the persons who executed the arson last night will be revealed only during investigation,” he said.

But the staff at Joshi’s bungalow — cook Raj Kumar Verma,his wife Sudha,their five-year-old son Karan,PCC employee Ram Bodh Chaudhary,his wife Rita,Chaudhary’s relative Mahendra Pal,and bungalow owner Kranti Kumar’s help Ram Singh Chauhan — claimed they were taken away by the police before the attack. Munni,who is Joshi’s personal help,hid herself and remained in the bungalow until 3 am.

“Around 11 pm last night,a police vehicle arrived and they asked us to open the main gate. After some hesitation,we opened the gate. The vehicle entered the bungalow. They took away everyone except Munni,” said Rita Devi,wife of Ram Bodh.

Raj Kumar Verma said: “We could not understand why they were taking us away. They took us to Hazratganj police station. The men were kept in a hall along with my son Karan and the two women were kept in a separate room. We asked the police why they were keeping us there and they said they had brought us to the police station for our safety.”

Munni said she was sitting in her room,watching television when she heard a commotion. “l looked out and saw policemen taking them away.”

Brij Lal,however,denied the claim that the police picked up the staff before the attack. “The police team reached the spot only after receiving information about the violence and rescued them from the house,” he said.

But UPCC chief spokesperson Subodh Srivastava said: “The police picked these people before the arson began and detained them for over 12 hours. It shows that the police knew about the incident in advance.”

DGP Vikram Singh said: “An inquiry has been ordered to probe the response time of the police officials and their efficiency. Culprits involved in the incident will be booked at the earliest.”