Half an hour before suspected BSP supporters attacked the Lucknow bungalow of UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi late Wednesday night over her alleged derogatory remarks against Chief Minister Mayawati, police came to the bungalow and took away the domestic help who claimed they were held overnight at the Hazratganj police station and let off this morning after Congress leaders intervened.

The bungalow is barely 50 metres from the gate of the Secretariat Annexe, which houses the CM office, and the rear entrance of the Raj Bhawan. It is a high security area and a PCR Gypsy is always stationed there. Yet the police say they have no clue to the identity of the slogan-shouting men — “they were about two dozen” — who drove into the Joshi residence, ransacked it for half an hour, set on fire four vehicles and left as noisily as they had come.

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.

... contd.