Thaindian News

New Delhi, April 11 (IANS) A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor was arrested for allegedly instigating his supporters to knife a party worker to death ahead of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, police said Wednesday.

Jai Prakash, 37, a painting contractor, was killed Tuesday night by supporters of Madhav Prasad, a BJP councillor. Besides Prasad, three others were arrested.

Prakash and his friends were at the Azadpur railway station when the attack took place around 10.45 p.m.

Police said a scuffle between two groups of BJP workers led to the incident.

Prakash, a resident of Lal Bagh area, was reportedly angry that Prasad had been renominated as a candidate in the MCD polls despite not working during his term and was distributing money to buy votes.

“On Tuesday night, he along with his friends had gone for a meeting organised by the councillor where there was a scuffle,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime and Railways) Ashok Chand told IANS.

According to Prakash’s wife Radha, he had told the councillor not distribute money before the elections.

“A few days ago, Prakash had asked the councillor not to distribute money in the MCD election. That might have been the reason behind the incident. I came to know about the murder of my husband after neighbours informed me,” Radha told IANS.

The couple has three children — Mogli, 18, Kalpana, 15, and Golu, 13.

Police swung into action and arrested four people. Besides Prasad, his driver Manoj alias Rinku and his associate Anil Yadav as well as Prakash’s friend Virender Yadav were arrested and presented before Tis Hazari court Wednesday, police said.

A hunt is on to nab two more people, officials said.

“Manoj allegedly stabbed the victim while Anil Yadav held him along with the councillor. Manoj also suffered head injuries in the scuffle. A case of murder has been registered against Prasad, Manoj and Anil Yadav while a separate case of criminal conspiracy has been registered against Virender, Balram and Santosh,” Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Railways) B.S. Gurjar told IANS.

Delhi Congress president J.P. Agarwal said Prasad should be suspended. “There should be no place for violence in a democracy,” Agarwal said.

“There are so many people asking for party tickets. This does not mean there should be violence or revenge,” he said.