‘Thakur’ UP BJP lawmaker throws weight behind ‘killer’ aide as he is from same caste
OCT 17 2020
A day aer virtually justifying the killing of a rival by a close aide of his in the presence or senior oicials during a meeting in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district, BJP lawmaker Surendra Singh said that he had lent support to the former as both of them hailed from the same caste.
“Aaropi khastriya hai, isliye uske saath khada hoon” (the accused hails from thakur community and so I stand with him), Singh told reporters in Ballia on Saturday.
Singh, who visited the family of the accused, Dhirendra Singh, who was a close aide of the legislator, also approached the cops to get a complaint registered on behalf of the family of the accused.
The accused, who continued to be at large, released a video blaming the local oicials, including the SDM, CO and others for the incident and claimed to be innocent.
“I had warned the oicials that there might be trouble at the meeting but they did not take it seriously,” he claimed.
Singh had on Friday justified the killing claiming that his aide had fired in ‘self defense’ aer being attacked by the rivals.
The MLA’s aide Dhirendra Singh had pumped four bullets into his rival Jai Prakash Pal aer an altercation during the meeting convened by the oicials to discuss allotment of fair price shops at Durjanpur village in the district.
As the killing sparked tension in the area, the government suspended five oicials, including a sub divisional
magistrate, circle oicer and three others on charges of laxity.
