UP: HC Reserves Order In 22-Yr-Old Murder Case Against Minister Teni

LUCKNOW | Updated: 11 November, 2022 4:23 pm IST

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Thursday reserved its judgement in the 22-year-old Prabhat Gupta murder case of Lakhimpur Kheri, in which Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’ is an accused.

Twenty-four years old Prabhat Gupta was shot dead in Banveerpur village of Tikunia area of Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh in January 2000 in broad daylight. He was a student leader associated with the Samajwadi Party.

The caae was last heard on July 8 this year.

Union minister Mishra and three others were named in the FIR based on a complaint filed by Gupta’s family. The accused were first tried at the district court, which acquitted all of them in 2004 due to lack of evidence.

The then-state government had challenged the trial court order in the high court.

Prabhat’s brother Rajiv approached the Supreme Court of India against the trial court judgement. The top court ordered for the case to be reopened in the Allahabad High Court.

On Thursday, the bench of Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Renu Aggarwal reserved the judgment after the conclusion of the arguments.

Along with the BJP leader, three others – Shashi Bhushan, Rakesh Dalu and Subhash Mama are also accused in the murder case.

According to local media reports, Prabhat was shot dead near a temple in the crowded market. The first bullet was fired by minister Mishra on the victim’s forehead and the second bullet fired by Mama hit Prabhat in his chest. He died on the spot.

Prabhat was a member of the youth wing of the Samajwadi Party and a student leader at Lucknow University.

In September this year, Prabhat’s brother Rajiv wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwant, seeking an appointment to speak to them regarding the case.

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