Smriti Irani’s aide shot dead in Amethi, she leads his funeral

An FIR has been registered against five persons for the murder of Smriti Irani's aide and the former sarpanch of Baraulia village, Surendra Singh, who was killed on Saturday night. Waseem and Naseem, two brothers from the village, have been booked, along with three others: Golu, Dharmnarth Gupta, and block development council member Ramchandra. The police is currently holding seven people, including the five named in the FIR, in custody.

According to Surendra's elder brother Narendra Bahadur, Waseem and Naseem were spotted fleeing on a bike after attacking the former sarpanch, while Golu was also spotted from a distance. The victim's family has alleged that Surendra had a misunderstanding with Gupta and Ramchandra over the course of the Lok Sabha poll campaign.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has set a 12-hour deadline to nab the culprits, and dispatched inspector general of Lucknow to monitor the probe. "Chief Minister Adityanath has directed the DGP to take effective action and show results in the next 12 hours. IG Lucknow has been dispatched to monitor the situation on the ground," Adityanath's office confirmed.

Irani asked party workers to exercise restraint, while attacking Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his "take care of Amethi with love" remark. Irani, who unseated Rahul from his Amethi bastion, said Surendra was killed so "Amethi can be terrorised, disintegrated and bowed down". "On May 23, I was given a message, to take care of Amethi with love. To the person who gave me the message, I would like to say I have received the message loud and clear," she said.

Surendra's high-profile murder shook the corridors of power on Sunday. Irani rushed to her parliamentary constituency after learning of the murder. "I have taken an oath before Surendra Singhji's family that the one who fired the shot and the one who ordered it will face justice. Even if I have to go to the Supreme Court to get the culprits a death sentence, we will knock on the doors of the court," she said.

Earlier on Sunday, an emotional Irani also lent a shoulder to Surendra's mortal remains.

POLITICAL KILLING: FAMILY

• Surendra Singh’s wife said her husband was killed only because he helped Irani win the recently held polls. “He did not have any rivalry with anyone. It was only after he helped Irani win that he was killed. He was killed due to politics,” she said.
   
• She praised Irani and said the BJP leader assured her support to the family. “Didi came to us and said she will take care of my children as her own. She also said that the whole BJP samaj is with us,” she added.