Bomb attack on UP minister: Key accused arrested

Nearly a fortnight after a bomb attack on Uttar Pradesh Minister Nand Gopal 'Nandi', the police on Tuesday claimed to have arrested a key accused in the case.

Purushottam Dubey, who is carrying a cash reward of Rs one lakh on his head and is believed to have been present at the site of the incident, was arrested late on Monday night from Colonelganj police station area of the city, a police spokesman said.

Dubey is said to be a close aide of Samajwadi Party leader Dilip Mishra and believed to have hired a sharp-shooter Rajesh 'Pilot' for engineering the blast on July 12 allegedly at the behest of Mishra, the spokesman alleged.

Nandi, 36, had made his electoral debut in the 2007 assembly elections, in which he wrested the Allahabad (south) assembly seat by defeating heavyweights like former Assembly speaker Keshri Nath Tripathi (Bharatiya Janata Party) and Rita Bahuguna Joshi (Congress).

Impressed with his victory, Chief Minister Mayawati inducted Nandi into the cabinet which allegedly caused heartburn among the likes of Dilip Mishra, who is president of Chaka block in the district's trans-Yamuna region. Misra has been involved in a long-standing property dispute with the minister, party sources said.

Dubey is the fourth person to have been arrested in connection with the explosion that had claimed the lives of a by-stander and a local journalist.

Earlier, two associates of Mishra, Rajesh Yadav and Kripashankar Pandey besides, his brother-in-law Jitendra Pandey, have been arrested in connection with the case.

Mishra himself is lodged in an Agra jail in connection with the murder of his own security guard. Two other accused, Rajesh 'Pilot' and Manoj Pandey, carrying cash rewards of Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs one lakh respectively on their heads, are yet to be traced.