India News | Sanjeev Jeeva Murder: SIT to Focus on Lapses in Court Security

Lucknow, Jun 8 (PTI) An SIT set up by the Uttar Pradesh government in the sensational Sanjeev Jeeva murder case will probe into possible security lapses at the court premises where the shoot out took place.

The SIT will focus on finding out if the metal detectors used by the security were working, and if they were, then how the accused managed to enter the court carrying a pistol, a senior police officer told PTI on Thursday.

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Gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari's aide Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva was shot dead on the premises of a Lucknow court on Wednesday.

The assailant, identified as Vijay Yadav, 24, from Jaunpur district, was caught right after the shooting that took place outside a courtroom at around 4 pm.

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Eyewitnesses said Yadav was dressed as a lawyer and fired around six shots.

Police are also probing how Vijay Yadav got the foreign pistol he used in the shooting and what was his motive behind killing Jeeva, he said.

The Special Investigation Team on Thursday visited the scene of crime for an on-spot assessment as part of the investigation. Policemen engaged in Jeeva's security are also undergoing questioning.

Soon after the murder, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had ordered the setting up of a three-member SIT to probe the incident and give a report within a week.

Two security personnel of the team that brought Jeeva to the court were also injured in the incident, one of whom is still undergoing treatment at King George's Medical University, while the other has been discharged, police said.

Another officer interrogating Vijay Yadav said the pistol recovered from his possession has each of its cartridges priced at around Rs 1,500-Rs 2,000.

As per inputs from Jaunpur, Vijay Yadav hails from a poor family and police suspect he is unlikely to have arranged the pistol on his own.

Vijay is being interrogated at an unknown location by top police officers, said another officer privy to case developments.

According to Vijay's father, Shyama Yadav, a farmer, his son used to work at a private company in Mumbai and had left his job around 18 months back and returned home.

Shyama Yadav had earlier told police that his son after returning went to Lucknow in search of employment where he used to work as a plumber.

The SIT is headed by Additional Director General of Police (Technical) Mohit Agarwal with IPS officer Neelabja Chowdhary and IGP (Ayodhya range) Praveen Kumar as its other members.

Jeeva, who was from UP's Muzaffarnagar district, was an accused in the murder cases of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai and former state minister Brahm Dutta Dwivedi, in addition to 22 other cases, including those of fraud and criminal conspiracy.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)