Bid on UP minister’s life: 2 held,search on for hitman

One man was killed and five,including Nandi and The Indian Express Senior Reporter Vijay Pratap Singh,were seriously injured in the blast,which was triggered by remote control near the minister’s Bahadurganj residence.

Allahabad DIG Brij Bhushan told a news conference that the contract for the killing had been given to a notorious criminal called Rajesh Pilot,who remains at large. He did not say how much Pilot had been paid,and how.

“Before his arrest,Dilip Mishra had called both arrested persons (Kripa Shankar Pandey and Yadav) at the house of his brother-in-law Manoj Kumar Pandey,a native of Badhauna village under Nawabganj police station of Allahabad district,and told them that he was left with no option but to get the minister killed,” Brij Bhushan said.

The arrested men have told interrogators that Dilip Mishra was angry with Nandi for “creating trouble” for him,including the attachment of his properties,the DIG said.

According to the police,Kripa Shankar Pandey and Yadav discussed the plan to attack Nandi with Samajwadi Party MLA Vijay Mishra and a criminal called Mahendra Kumar Mishra,both of whom promised to help. Vijay Mishra is a relative of Dilip Mishra’s,and is wanted by the police in several cases.

Allahabad IG S K Singh — who was present at the news conference along with DIG Brij Bhushan and Special Task Force IG R K Mishra — said Nandi and Dilip Mishra had a history of conflicts. “There’s an old enmity between them,” S K Singh said.

DIG Brij Bhushan said that five or six days before the July 12 bomb attack,Rajesh Yadav,Kripa Shankar Pandey and Manoj Kumar Pandey had met at Manoj’s house. Manoj’s brother Jitendra Pandey,the contract killer Rajesh Pilot,a man called Purushottam Dubey,and another,unknown,person were also present.

“Manoj Pandey told them that he had met Dilip Mishra in jail,the plan for Nandi’s murder was ready,and Rajesh Pilot had been tasked with execute the plan,” the DIG said.

The two arrested men — who were present near the spot at the time of the attack — had been given the task of taking Rajesh Pilot to Nandi’s house in Allahabad for a recce,the DIG said.