By Alishan Jafri
New Delhi: Last week, the police in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh arrested Ashok Pandey, the spokesman of the Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha (ABHM) in connection with the murder of a bike showroom owner in Hathras. His wife Pooja Shakun Pandey, the general secretary of the ABHM and a mahamandleshwar of the Niranjani Akhara is the main accused in the case. She is now on the run.
On September 26, the victim Abhishek Gupta, his father Neeraj Gupta, and his cousin Jeetu Gupta had shut the showroom at the usual time in the evening, says the FIR, a copy which has been accessed by The Wire. They were waiting for a bus at an intersection. The father and cousin got into the bus but Abhishek was stopped by two men on a bike. They fired at him and fled the scene. He was fatally wounded in the head and instantly died on the spot. SHO Gandhinagar, Vijay told The Wire that the shooters have been traced. He said that the shooters were in touch with the accused. “Pooja Shakun’s location is being traced and she will soon be under arrest,” he said.
Now, one of the two alleged shooters, a welder named Fazal, has been arrested by the police. He had reportedly worked on a tin shed in Pooja Shakun’s goshala.
The other shooter is still absconding. Per police investigation, Pandey and her husband called the shooter 39 times between August and September.
When asked about allegations that the complicated relationship between Pooja Shakun and the victim was being seen as the possible reason for the murder, the police officer said that it’s an allegation by the victim’s family and that all angles are being looked into.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
