Lucknow: Six days after gangster Sanjeev Maheshwari, alias Jeeva, was shot dead inside a Lucknow court last week, a purported video of his alleged killer claiming that he killed the gangster at the behest of a Nepal-based man who promised him Rs 20 lakhs for the job, has gone viral on social media and WhatsApp groups.
In the video — a purported statement given to police hours after the shooting — the alleged murderer, identified by police as Vijay (or Anand Yadav), appears to be saying that he was asked to murder Jeeva by Nepal-based Aslam, whose brother, Yadav claims in the video is lodged in Lucknow jail.
Yadav can be further heard saying that Aslam’s brother Atif had a fight with Jeeva inside the jail after the latter allegedly pulled his beard, which Atif took as an insult.
In the video, Vijay can be seen lying on a hospital bed with an oxygen mask on his face as he purportedly speaks to police officers. The accused had been taken to a Lucknow hospital soon after he was handed over to police by lawyers, who allegedly beat him up inside the court premises after the shooting.
“A man named Atif is lodged in the Lucknow jail. He [Jeeva] had once pulled his [Atif’s] beard. His brother had met me in Nepal,” Vijay can be heard saying to an officer, who appears to prod the accused to share the name of Atif’s brother and capture purported statement on video.
“His brother’s name is Aslam. He wears kurta-pajama. He told me: ‘Jeeva had pulled my brother’s beard, work for me. I will give you Rs. 20 lakhs,” Vijay can be further heard claiming.
A resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar, Jeeva is believed to have been an associate of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari. Accused in multiple kidnapping, murder and other criminal cases, he was also alleged to have been involved in the murder of two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, Brahm Dutt Dwivedi and Krishna Nand Rai. While he was cleared of the charge in Rai’s murder, he was convicted in the Dwivedi murder. He had been taken to court in relation to a case, when he was shot dead.
While Yadav was sent to 14 days’ judicial custody last Thursday, a member of his family told ThePrint Monday that as far as they knew he had never been to Nepal.
No official public confirmation has come yet from Lucknow prison officials about any inmate named Atif.
Lucknow joint commissioner of police (law and order) Upendra Agarwal, however, told ThePrint that they are treating everything, including the purported statement, as part of investigation.
“We will take him on remand and question him further,” Agarwal said. A Lucknow court is scheduled to hear the remand petition Wednesday.
Meanwhile, law and order experts have pointed out that the weapon allegedly used in last week’s shootout — a .357 bore Czech made Magnum revolver of the Alfa series, according to Lucknow police — is a “very powerful weapon”, often used in hunting to ensure “death for sure” of the target.
Jeeva’s shooting, coming less than two months after gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother, Ashraf, were gunned down while in police custody in UP’s Prayagraj, has again raised questions about the law and order situation in UP.
“People are losing their lives in police custody, on court premises. It seems the government has given a free hand to (criminals) to go out and kill people wherever they want. The question is not who is being killed, the question is where they are being killed,” Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had said after last week’s incident.
While some had questioned how arms were smuggled inside the court premises, the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government had said in a statement that the CM had ordered a high-level probe into the case by a three-member special investigative team (SIT).
Yadav never went to Nepal, claims brother
Interestingly, while Yadav was sent to 14-days judicial custody last Thursday, the emergence of the purported video statement about four days later, Monday, has raised eyebrows in the police circle, sources in Lucknow police told ThePrint.
The contents of the video suggest that it was shot soon after Yadav was taken to hospital after last week’s shooting.
Meanwhile, speaking to ThePrint, Satyam Yadav, who identified himself as Yadav’s younger brother, claimed that Yadav had never informed the family about going to Nepal.
“We had no idea about all of this. My brother had been working in Mumbai since 2021, but suddenly returned home [to Jaunpur] on 22 March. He told us that he did not wish to work in Mumbai anymore and would work in Lucknow now. He said that he went to Lucknow after spending two-three days at home. He last met me on 10 May, at a wedding [in Jaunpur] and left town the next day. His phone remained switched off for days [several days after that],” he said.
Satyam further claimed that Vijay had remained admitted at a Lucknow hospital till the evening of 8 June, after which he was sent to judicial custody. He added that the police had come to their residence soon after Jeeva’s murder and questioned the family.
Earlier news reports had quoted Satyam as saying that his brother had been rebuked and beaten by his father for losing interest in studies and dropping out of college while he was a second-year B.Com student.
Meanwhile, jail officials told ThePrint that Lucknow police were in touch with jail authorities for details of those who met Jeeva in jail in the recent past and for CCTV footage of the meetings.
While some news reports have claimed that there were four prisoners named Atif who are currently lodged in the Lucknow jail, DG (prisons) S.N. Sabat told ThePrint that it is an angle which the police would probe and that did not fall under his domain.
“There are hundreds of prisoners, so we are yet to do such identification. Possibly, in due course of time, police will investigate this. This is not our domain. Police are in touch with jail authorities,” he said.
‘.357 bore Czech made Magnum Alfa used in murder’
Lucknow police officers told ThePrint Monday that the weapon used in Jeeva’s shooting was a Czech-made .357 bore Magnum revolver of the Alfa series.
“The revolver has been sent for forensic examination,” Agrawal told ThePrint.
According to experts in the field of law and order, the revolver is a powerful weapon, often used in hunting, and categorised as a “connoisseur’s weapon”.
“The .357 bore Magnum is a very powerful weapon. It comes with several forms of barrels, including 6 inched, 4 inched and 2 inched, ones. These weapons come with piercing cartridges. A hollow cartridge has a shattering effect as it bursts in the body soon after entering it. Unfortunately, it is non-prohibited weapon in India and people can keep it with a license,” former UP deputy general of police (DGP) and Rajya Sabha member Brij Lal told ThePrint.
He added: “Although import of foreign-made arms is banned in India, players are authorised to import such weapons and they sell them off. Diplomats too can bring the weapons to India and rest is smuggled.”
According to Lal, the Magnum series of weapons is especially used for hunting, aimed to cause “death for sure” of the target.
“Till hunting was legal in India, the Magnum series weapons were very commonly used for hunting. When six UP Special Task Force officers were killed by the Thokia gang [a former dacoit gang], the killing was carried out by a Magnum rifle. The bullets had pierced through the police vehicle and killed the officers,” he claimed, adding that Mukhtar Ansari’s wife and family members own several of them in possession as licensed weapons.
“While the Magnum series weapons cost a few thousand dollars abroad, when they enter India, their cost shoots to Rs. 15-16 lakhs,” he further added.
According to another former UP DGP, Vikram Singh, the revolver is a “connoisseur’s weapon” and “a policeman’s dream”, which ensures fool-proof aiming, allowing even a novice to shoot straight.
“This is a designer weapon made in Czech Republic (erstwhile Czechoslovakia) where Brno has traditionally produced these game-changing revolvers made of top-grade steel. The .357 Magnum gives trajectory and muzzle velocity to the bullet and imparts penetration power such that even if the person is shot below the knee, he will die of haemorrhage. This is the caliber and power of .357 Magnum,” said Singh.
He added: “The aiming is almost fail-proof such that even a novice can aim and shoot straight since the steel is very heavy and the recoil is very minimum.”
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
Also read: ‘Shooter in Mukhtar gang’, booked in 24 cases, convicted in 1 — rap sheet of slain gangster Jeeva