Centre had sought more security for Pal

A fresh twist in the murder mystery of BSP MLA Raju Pal has turned the spotlights firmly on the Mulayam Singh government.On January 10, the ...

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A fresh twist in the murder mystery of BSP MLA Raju Pal has turned the spotlights firmly on the Mulayam Singh government.

On January 10, the Centre had written a letter to Allahabad Commissioner, Lalit Verma, saying an inquiry had established a grave threat to Pal’s life. The unusually strongly-worded letter from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had ‘ordered’ that security for the MLA be beefed up immediately.

Fifteen days later, Pal was shot dead in broad daylight in Dhoomanganj. The letter, written by K.P. Baliyan, Additional Private Secretary to Union Minister Meira Kumar, stated: ‘‘This ministry received a fax from Raju Pal, MLA from West Allahabad…on December 29 saying an attempt on his life was made on December 28 night in his village Newan. We have conducted an inquiry into this and found his claims to be true. Hereby, we are ordering that the MLA be immediately provided with four gunners from the state government and a guard of PAC men be posted at his residence and in the village…’’

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The letter—a copy is with The Indian Express—also pointed at the involvement of Dhoomanganj Inspector Parshuram Singh in the attack on Pal and asked for his removal.

‘‘Also, the station officer of Dhoomanganj, Inspector Parshuram Singh be immediately suspended for his suspected role in the repeated attacks on the MLA. The Inspector also vandalised the house of a close relative of the MLA damaging valuables worth Rs 2 lakh. This money should be recovered from the Inspector,’’ the letter added.

However, no action followed. Mulayam did suspend Singh but only after BSP leader Mayawati alleged that the Inspector was with the assailants on the murder day.

Allahabad Commissoner Lalit Verma said: ‘‘I forwarded the letter for necessary action to SSP Allahabad Sunil Kumar Gupta a day later, on January 11. I don’t know why no action followed.’’

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When contacted, Gupta admitted he ‘‘received the orders… But I felt that two gunners were enough for Pal.’’ IG (Allahabad) A.C. Sharma said: ‘‘There was no need for more security. It is pure chance they failed to fire during the attack.’’

The Centre’s letter followed a faxed appeal by the slain MLA, alleging an SP plot to kill him. ‘‘I am the target of SP MP Atiq Ahmed and fear for my life from the Mulayam government. I have been elected MLA on a BSP ticket on defeating Atiq’s brother and have ended Atiq’s 15-year-old reign in West Allahabad,’’ Pal had said.

The two murder accused —arrested last week—have already admitted that Ashraf provided information to them regarding Pal’s movements on January 25.

Earlier, Pal had sent letters to the NHRC and UP Governor, T.V. Rajeswar, pleading for more security. The Governer directed Principal Secretary (Home) to boost Pal’s security on November 11 last year, the NHRC issued a similar order to Verma on December 3.

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Meanwhile, the state government’s reaction to the repeated attacks on Pal remains a flashpoint. The two state gunmen who saved his life during the December 28 attack were immediately changed. In fact, SSP Gupta initiated departmental proceedings against them, saying, ‘‘they were negligent by firing in a public place.’’ When the murder took place, the two replacements did not fire a single shot—both reportedly ran away and couldn’t even identify the killers.