Accused of firing on RSS functionary arrested during encounter

PRAYAGRAJ, January 24 (HS): A day after, Deputy Chief Minister, Keshav Prasad Maurya visited the injured block secretary of RSS, who suffered serious head injuries when he was attacked by assailants in Mauaima on Friday morning, police swung into action and arrested the main accused and his aide during an encounter on Sunday. “Intricate grassroot network was activated by police to zero in on the whereabouts of main accused. We had earlier arrested four suspects but the main accused was still at large. However, the accused failed to hoodwink police for long and fallen prey to our trap and were held during the encounter. The main accused Atiq was shot in the leg and his accomplice surrendered after the shootout,” said Inspector Soraon while speaking to HS.

During the encounter, main accused Atiq received bullet injury on his leg and is being treated at SRN hospital. According to the police, accused Atiq is involved in more than a dozen criminal cases. SSP Sarvshrestha Tripathi said, “During routine checking, two bike-borne men suddenly drove pass through our check post. Crime branch along with the police team began chasing them down. During their pursuit, the criminals started firing at the team. During retaliatory firing, one of the accused was hit by the bullet and fell while his accomplice Abul ‘Zaid’ surrendered before the police. We also recovered a .12 bore pistol and two live cartridges from him.” Since he opened fire at the police team, he was also booked under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under relevant sections of the Arms Act, said police.

Dinesh Maurya (35), a senior RSS functionary and son of late Ram Sumer Maurya was shot at by bike borne assailants.  “So far, we have not got any inputs about any dispute at work that could have led to this shooting. He was supervising fundraising drive for the Ram Temple and had a dispute with other locals over opening of office and management of a temple in the area. We are talking to his family to probe details,” Soraon police said. Some sections of social media had indicated that the murder of the RSS worker had a communal angle to it as Mauaima area has seen many such cases in the past, but no such angle has been reported in the case yet. The ADG Prayagraj zone, Prem Prakash said investigation is on keeping personal enmity and other angles in mind. The police got vital information regarding the killing, and are very close to work out the case.