Lucknow, March 29
Sachin Pahari, main accused in the Meher Bhargava murder case, managed to escape despite receiving four to five bullet shots during an encounter with the police in the crowded Qaiserbagh area here today.
SSP Ashutosh Pandey said that while a severely-wounded Pahari escaped, two of his associates were arrested. With this the total number of arrested persons in the case has risen to three.
Mr Pandey said the encounter took place around 2.30 pm near a bakery in the crowded Qaiserbagh area. Sachin, accompanied by six members of his gang was challenged.
“We shot him, but he managed to enter a crowded bylane...we are checking all nursing homes and hospitals in the vicinity,” Mr Pandey added.
According to Pandey, one of the two persons arrested was present when Meher (50), wife of Congress leader Luv Bhargava, was shot at by four persons in Lucknow on February 28. She succumbed to her injuries at Apollo Hospital in New Delhi on March 25.
Pahari, along with three other persons, had shot at Meher in the busy Shahnajaf road area outside Dilip Pur Towers when she protested against their passing lewd remarks at her daughter-in-law.
Describing Pahari as a “hardened criminal” who uses several aliases and is wanted in connection with several cases of murders and extortion, the SSP said that the police was also searching nearby buildings to nab Pahari
The police had specific information that Pahari had been hiding in Lucknow for the last couple of days.
Describing the encounter as a “close one”, Pandey said that the entire area had been cordoned off as Pahari could be hiding in a house in the area. The police had taken enough precautions during the encounter as Qaiserbagh is a crowded area and the police had to
exercise restrain while exchanging fire, Pandey said.
The police has also raided a flat in Lucknow, which had been
allotted to a local journalist where Pahari and his associates were believed to be hiding. A number of calls made by the culprit were from a telephone installed at this flat, he informed.
The Special Task Force is now assisting the district police in the investigation. The police had been attacked from various quarters for sloppy investigation in the case. Two sub-inspectors had been suspended on charges of laxity.
Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav is personally monitoring the pace of investigation especially after being criticised by almost the entire Opposition, including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
