UP cop's murder: CBI questions Raja Bhaiya's cousin

Taking its probe to the doorsteps of former Uttar Pradesh minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday questioned his cousin and member of state legislative council Akshay Pratap Singh in connection with the violence in Balipur village in which Deputy Superintendent of Police Zia-ul-Haq was killed.

CBI sources said Singh was questioned in detail about his whereabouts on the day of incident in which village head Nanhe Yadav, his brother Suresh and Haq were allegedly murdered during violence arising over a land dispute on March 2. They said the agency might also question his cousin and independent MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya in connection with these murders, as some suspects are known to be cronies of the influential leader.

The CBI has registered four cases pertaining to three murders in Balipur village on  March 2 and booked Raja Bhaiya in one of them on the complaint of Haq's wife. Raja Bhaiya had to resign from the Akhilesh Yadav government after his name cropped up in the case.

Recently, the agency has recovered a bloodstained wooden rod and ammunition belt with six live cartridges from various places here during its ongoing probe into the murder of the DSP and the two others.

The bloodstained ammunition belt was recovered from a box concealed in a house of Suresh Yadav, who was gunned down along with his brother and village pradhan Nanhe, official sources said.

The wooden rod, which too had bloodstains on it, was recovered from another area in the village at the instance of local police officials who were being questioned by the CBI in the case, the sources said.