Chief Minister Mayawati promised a fair probe into the recent murder of a young poetess and added for good measure that the guilty would not be spared. But amidst whispers that behind closed doors, the police officers who took the initiative for a DNA test on her foetus were indeed given a tongue-lashing, there are indications of a cover-up.And this was conveyed to the Press in a dramatic manner when minister Amar Mani Tripathi, who has been under a cloud because of allegations of his proximity to the woman, Madhumita Shukla, and the role of his wife in the incident, called up reporters on Monday night and claimed that a SIM card which they had reported to have been seized was in his possession.The Lucknow police had in the presence of reporters seized two cellphones from Madhumita’s room. The numbers were 94150-17015 and 94150-88294. Of these, 94150-17015 was a normal connection purchased in the name of Amar Mani Tripathi while the other phone operated on a cash card. With Tripathi claiming to be in possession of the SIM card of 94150-17015, reporters were left wondering how a crucial piece of evidence seized by the police could end up with him. No police officer in the capital was willing to comment on the issue. Madhumita was murdered by two men at her Paper Mill Colony flat last Friday. She was unmarried and seven-months pregnant. It was her sister, Nidhi, who had told reporters in an emotional outburst that she was close to the minister and alleged his wife’s hand in the murder. Nidhi had claimed that Tripathi and Madhumita were planning to marry. The allegations have been denied by the minister.Moreover, Madhumita’s family soon clammed up and then left for their native town of Lakhimpur. The sister has since then been blaming the media for maligning her sister’s image. ‘‘Aap logon ke liye Madhumita ek khabar hai, magar hum to barbad ho gaye. Humne kisi ka naam nahin liya aur hum ab kuchh nahin jaante,’’ (Madhumita is just a bit of news for you but we have been ruined. We didn’t name anyone and we don’t know anything) she said.The police had earlier briefed the media about several other pieces of evidence that pointed to Madhumita’s links with the minister having been recovered from the house. Among these, they had said, was his horoscope, letterheads, clothes and railway coupons worth several thousands of rupees issued in his name. Now they are feigning total ignorance about all this. Three dairies, one with a red cover that reportedly contained details about her pregnancy, were also seized by the police but no efforts have been made to decode the names mentioned in them so far.A 10-year-old servant, Deshraj, who had discovered the body of the poetess and then informed the police had talked about Madhumita’s relationship with the minister in an interview to a news channel on Monday. He was soon whisked away by the police to an unknown destination for ‘‘security reasons’’.The foetus recovered from Madhumita’s body during a second post-mortem on Saturday is yet to be sent for a DNA test. It is lying at the government hospital. The police officers are now tightlipped about the progress in the investigations and refuse to reply to any queries in this regard.The Opposition, meanwhile, has stepped up its demand for a CBI inquiry into the case and immediate dismissal and arrest of the BSP minister. A delegation of the Congress, led by UPCC president Arun Kumar Singh Munna, met Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri on Tuesday and submitted a memorandum demanding a CBI inquiry into the case. ‘‘The evidence s being tampered with while no efforts have been made to nab the culprits. We demand a CBI probe,’’ said Munna. He and Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Singh expressed apprehension that crucial evidence would either be tampered with or simply destroyed if the case was not handed over to the CBI immediately.
