'Attack on minister planned by jailed SP leader'

The Uttar Pradesh police on Thursday claimed to have found the culprits behind the bomb attack on Institutional Finance Minister (stamps and registration) Nand Gopal Nandi.

The police claimed that the attack was planned by jailed Samajwadi Party leader Dilip Misra (block pramukh of Chaka).

Nandi and seven others were seriously injured in a blast outside his Allahabad residence that claimed one life.  Indian Express journalist Vijay Pratap Singh and Nandi's security official Sanjay Singh continue to be in a critical condition.

Additional Director General of Police Brij Lal told mediapersons, "Two persons, Kripa Shankar Pandey and Rajesh Yadav, were arrested by the special investigation team. They have not only confessed to their involvement in the blast, but have revealed the entire sequence of events that preceded the murder attempt."

"Prima facie, the murder was planned by Dilip Misra, the jailed block pramukh of Chaka block. His henchman Rajesh Pilot, a dreaded sharpshooter, carried out the blast," he said.

Dilip Misra was jailed in connection with a triple murder in Allahabad.

He added, "Our sleuths are on the job and I am sure they will manage to get Rajesh and his accomplice who accompanied him on that day to carry out the blast."

Speaking on the role of the arrested men, Brij Lal said, "Eventually, they were the ones who conveyed to Rajesh that the minister was stepping out of the house. Rajesh and his accomplice who had parked themselves in the neighbourhood pressed the button on the remote device to trigger the blast."

The police have named seven persons in the FIR filed in connection to the case -- Dilip Misra, Manoj Kumar Pandey, Rajesh Yadav, Kripa Shankar Pandey, Purshottam Dube, Rajesh Pilot and the unidentified man.

"Police teams have fanned out in different directions to nab the four accused," said the ADG.

He added, "The arrested men have said that Dilip Misra had told them that he was desperate to eliminate Nandi, as he used to harass the SP leader and his family."