UP seeks Centre’s approval for CBI probe into Kanpur realtor’s death

Until the takeover, the Special Investigation Team Kanpur would continue the case, read another tweet.

The government said Gupta’s wife Meenakshi (34), who has a five-year-old son, would be given a job as an officer on special duty (OSD) in the Kanpur Development Authority. She received another cheque of Rs 30 lakh from the government on Friday. The family had received a cheque of Rs 10 lakh on Thursday.

Additional Director General of Police (Gorakhpur range) Akhil Kumar on Friday said they would make arrests after all evidence was gathered.

“We have not made any arrests yet because we will do it after all evidence is collected. We don’t want the accused to get any benefit from any loophole in the probe. We will arrest them once all evidence is collected, and we have a strong case,” said Kumar.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had Thursday met the family of the 38-year-old property dealer.

Gupta’s family has alleged that he was assaulted during the raid, resulting in his death. Six policemen, who were part of the raid, have been suspended and booked under the murder charge.

The post-mortem report stated that the cause of death was “coma” and mentioned injuries to his body. Asked about the probe so far, ADG Kumar said, “We have instructed that an SIT must be formed because the complainant is from another city. We are ensuring the investigation is done swiftly, and when needed, the accused are arrested… We have told the investigating officers that if needed, the crime scene should be recreated.”

Meanwhile, Opposition parties continued their verbal attack against the government.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav wrote on Twitter, “In the Manish Gupta murder case, not arresting policemen shows that they did not abscond but they were made to abscond. Actually, someone is not trying to save the accused but trying to save themselves…”

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted: “What kind of state’s image is the CM creating? After the murder of an innocent trader, district level officers created pressure (on his family) to not lodge an FIR. Then, state level officers made statements to save the accused policemen…”

In its riposte, the BJP accused the Samajwadi Party of “doing politics on a dead body”.