CBI court issues summons to Raja Bhaiya, 14 others

LUCKNOW: A CBI court on Thursday summoned UP cabinet minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya to face the trial in Suresh Yadav murder case. The court rejected the probe agency’s closure report in the case and called Raja Bhaiya and his associates on October 3 to face trial.
Suresh Yadav, the brother of Pratapgarh’s Balipur panchayat chief Nanhe Yadav was killed in a village brawl on March 2, 2013.Nanhe Yadav and Kunda deputy SP Zia-ul-Haq were also killed on the same day. The brawl started after murder of Nanhe Yadav. Haq, who was posted as CO, Kunda, went to Balipur village to control the situation. However, the enraged crowd lynched and later shot him. Two more shots were fired and Suresh was killed too. The CBI was handed over the probe in the two killings after Haq’s wife alleged that UP minister Raja Bhaiya was behind her husband’s murder.
When CBI made him an accused, Raja Bhaiya had to resign from the ministry. However, he was re-inducted after the CBI gave him a clean chit in Haq murder case in its closure report. On July 8, 2014, the CBI court rejected the closure report and the agency moved the high court, challenging the order. The case is still pending before the high court.
In Suresh Yadav murder case, too, the CBI had filed a closure report, calling it an accident and giving clean chit to Raja Bhaiya. On Thursday, the CBI court rejected this closure report and summoned the minister. Others who have been asked to appear before the court on October 3 are Raja Bhaiya’s cousin Akshay Pratap Singh, then Hathigaon SHO Manoj Kumar Shukla, Incharge SHO Sarvesh Kumar Mishra , Zia-ul-Haq’s gunner Imran Siddiqui, Rajiv Pratap Singh, Sanjiv Kumar Singh, Guddu Singh alias Sanjai Singh, Jivendra Pal, Nanhey Singh, Kamta Pal, Ajai Pal, Vijai Pal, Munna Pal and Bulle Pal.
Rejecting the CBI’s closure report, judicial magistrate Manoj Kumar said that it not the only duty of a court to summon the accused who are sent for trial by the investigating agency but if the court found that there was enough material against any accused , the court may also summon them . “In the present case , after perusal of the case diary and other material on record, I find that there is adequate evidence against Raja Bhaiya and others hence it is justifiable to summon them to stand trial,” the court observed.