Saurabh Sharma

With inputs from Asgar Naqvi.

Amethi: In what seems to be the case of political rivalry, a former village headman of Barauli village in Amethi, the constituency of newly MP-elect and BJP leader Smriti Irani, Surendra Pratap Singh was shot dead by unidentified assailants on Saturday late night.

According to Amethi’s Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajesh Kumar, few suspects have been detained by the police in connection with the murder of the 50 year old former village head.

“The police received information that some people opened fire on the Surendra Pratap Singh. The police immediately reached the spot and took the victim to the district hospital along with his family members. Surendra Pratap was then referred to Lucknow Trauma Centre as he had sustained bullet injuries. The police are investigating the case and soon the culprits will be behind bars,” he said while adding that the political rivalry angle cannot be ruled out.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh’s Director General of Police (DGP), OP Singh said, “Six to seven suspects have been detained and are being interrogated by the police with whom Singh had strained relationships. Prima facie, it seems to be a case of family or personal enmity but it is too early to jump to conclusions. The DGP office is monitoring the case and the police will crack the case soon.”

It may also be mentioned that Singh was considered a close aide of BJP leader Irani, and had campaigned for her very extensively during the recently held Lok Sabha elections. Singh allegedly played an important role in Smriti Irani’s distribution of shoes to the residents of Barauli village in a bid to ridicule the former Amethi lawmaker and Congress chief, Rahul Gandhi.

Vijay Yatra could be the trigger?

Abhay Pratap Singh, the son of the deceased, has alleged that many Congress supporters were outraged by the fact that his father had played a key role in the win of Smriti Irani from Amethi. He said that Surendra had worked very closely with Irani for the last five to six years.
“We have suspicions on few people. My father carried out a ‘Vijay Yatra’ after Smriti Irani ji won the elections and I think some people who were Congress supporters did not like this,” he added.

Cousin of the deceased, Dheerendra Pratap Singh said that he received the information from other family members that his brother was shot at around 3 am (on Sunday) and then he rushed to Surendra’s house.

“The family members had, by the time I reached, taken Surendra to the hospital and nobody knew who shot him. He had returned at night after celebrating the win of Smriti Irani ji and was sleeping in the verandah where he was sprayed with bullets and this is what I know through the family members. This can be the case of a political rivalry,” he added.

Meanwhile, the district police have deployed a heavy posse of forces in the village to avoid any kind of unrest in the backdrop of Singh’s murder.

Smriti Irani won the Amethi parliamentary seat by overtaking Congress chief Rahul Gandhi with a margin of 55,120 votes on Thursday when the results for the 17th Lok Sabha elections were announced.

In a telephonic conversation, Irani’s representative in Amethi, Vijay Gupta told Firstpost, “Singh was on the target of his enemies because he had worked very hard for Smriti Irani ji in Amethi. Didi (Smriti Irani) has been informed about this and she has expressed her condolences. The BJP family stands with the grieving family and will try its best to get justice to the family.”  

It is speculated that Smriti Irani may pay a visit to offer her condolences to the grieving family today.

Poll rivalry in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections:

Last Friday, Vijay Yadav alias Pappu, 44, was allegedly shot dead outside his residence by three unidentified persons at Salarpur village in Ghazipur district. Vijay was the district panchayat member and also a private contractor. Protesting against his death, Ghazipur MP-elect Afzal Ansari participated in a sit-in protest and demanded a compensation of Rs 1 crore and also levelled the allegation on the inaction of police last Saturday.

Earlier on May 14, Congress’ Raebareli Sadar MLA Aditi Singh was attacked by some unidentified men while she was on her way to the district panchayat office where a no-confidence motion against panchayat head, Avadhesh Singh, was scheduled. Aditi Singh later alleged that Avadesh Singh's henchmen, armed with iron rods and bricks, attacked her vehicle due to which the driver lost control and it overturned.  

A day later, Shiva Singh, a close aide of Dinesh Singh, who contested against Congress matriarch, Sonia Gandhi from Raebareli, was murdered by few men. The district administration, however, termed both the incidents separate and dismissed the speculations of gang war owing to poll rivalries.

Vivek Vikram Singh, a senior political commentator, said that this does not look like a case of poll rivalry while claiming that this could be a matter of personal enmity. “This region does not have a history of bloodbath owing to election rivalry and Surendra Singh was a gem of a person who worked very hard during the election for Smriti Irani. He has always been known in the area for his humble nature. This incident has outraged the BJP workers in the district,” he added.

Amethi police are yet to register an FIR in connection with this case.