UP minister Avadh Pal Singh Yadav, who is to be booked for triple murders in Etah district on the orders of the local court, has refused to step down from his post. Taking to reporters at his residence on Sunday, the minister said that he had been falsely implicated in the triple murders.
“It is the Samajwadi Party workers who are responsible for the triple murders. These SP leaders have coerced the family of the gunner to implicate me. Why should I resign just because my political rivals have conspired against me?” he said.
The minister said that if the issue was raised in the state Assembly on Monday, he would reply to the Opposition’s charges himself.
On Saturday, a local court in Etah district had ordered the police to register a FIR against the minister, his two brothers Chandra Pratap Yadav and Amarpal Yadav and son Ranjeet Yadav, besides 15 to 20 unknown persons, in connection with the murder of one Vijay Verma, his son Abhinav Verma and their gunner Santosh Yadav who were shot dead in Jaithra area under Aliganj police station area of the district on June 10 this year.
Mr Yadav told reporters that the kin of the victims Vijay Verma and the gunner Santosh Yadav have been forced by SP leaders to file cases against him, his brothers and son.
“This is a conspiracy to put an end to my political career and also defame the BSP government. The Samajwadi Party is against me because their Yadav vote bank is fast eroding in the Etah-Etawah-Mainpuri belt which, once, used to be the stronghold of Mulayam Singh Yadav,” he said.
The minister, however, refused to comment on the court order which directs the police to lodge a FIR against him and his family members.
Mr Avadh Pal Singh Yadav, against whom the Lokayukta has also issued notice on charges of corruption, said that he would reply to the notice in due course. Replying to a question, the minister said that former MLA Rameshwar Singh and his brother Joginder Singh were behind the conspiracy against him and his family members.