Agencies, Lucknow Uttar Pradesh governor B L Joshi has accepted the resignation of state Food and Supplies Minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya from the Akhilesh Yadav government.
While accepting the resignation tendered by Raja Bhaiyya after an FIR was registered against him in the murder of DSP Zia-ul-Haque in Pratapgarh on Saturday, the governor has alloted the Food and Supply department to the Chief Minister. Now the CM has a total of 66 departments in his kitty. Earlier, during the expansion of the Akhilesh Yadav on February 7 last, Jail department was taken from Raja Bhaiyya and was given to new entrant Rajendra Choudhury. Earlier in the day, Raja Bhaiyya handed over his resignation letter to the Chief Minister at his residence after clarifying his stand and expressing his innocence in the case. Later, talking to mediapersons Raja Bhaiyya said he has resigned on moral grounds so that the opposition parties do not target Samajwadi Party government.
Zia-ul-Haque’s wife, Parveen, had filed a police complaint, accusing Raja Bhaiya and his men of killing her husband. She alleged the Minister was harassing the police officer as he was investigating a recent communal clash in Pratapgarh. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today announced a CBI probe into the killing of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Zia-ul-Haque and handed over cheques worth Rs 50 lakh to the deceased’s family members.
The Chief Minister accompanied by state parliamentary affairs minister Mohammad Azam Khan and DGP Ambrish Chandra Sharma reached Juasar village at around 1630 hrs and paid his floral tribute to the slain DySP after staying there for around 70 minutes. Expressing his condolence, the CM also handed over two cheques worth Rs 25 lakh each to the parents of the DySP and his wife Praveen Azad. On the demand of Praveen Azad, Mr Yadav announced that the government would recommend for a CBI probe into the incident. However, the CM and his convoy met with protests when people raised slogans of ‘Mukhamantri Vapas Jao’ and ‘Goondo ki Sarkar Nahi Chalegi’. People also banged the vehicles of the CM’s convoy. Now the family members would go for the burial of the body of the DySP.
