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Journalism of Courage
The CBI probe into the murder of poet Madhumita Shukla is in its final stage with the arrest of two key accused late last night. Wife of the jailed Samajwadi Party legislator Amar Mani Tripathi, Madhumani, is also likely to be arrested in a day or two.
The arrested were sent to CBI custody today. ‘‘We have arrested Santosh Rai, who was allegedly paid Rs 2 lakh by a relative of Madhumani for executing the murder, but we are also looking for another person who was hired by Santosh. The two had murdered Madhumita,’’ a CBI official said.
The CBI has a 12-day remand on Rohit Chaturvedi, Amar Mani’s cousin while the main accused, Santosh, will be kept in Barabanki Jail till November 21. Rohit is believed to have delivered the money to Santosh, saying ‘‘she (Madhumita) is troubling Madhumani.
Finish her off.’’ The CBI is in possession of evidence of conversations between Santosh and Rohit. While police believe Santosh was a contract killer, his father, Surendra Rai, said his son had gone to Lucknow only to visit his ailing grandfather. Rohit, meanwhile, was traced through calls allegedly made on Amar Mani Tripathi’s cellphones in jail.
‘‘Such frequent and long duration calls helped the CBI zero in on Rohit, who they claim was asked by Madhumani to eliminate Madhumita,’’ a police officer said.
