Thaindian News

Lucknow, Dec 24 (IANS) An engineer in Uttar Pradesh’s Auraiya district was lynched by a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator and his supporters after he refused to pay an alleged extortion demand for the birthday celebrations of Chief Minister Mayawati, police said Wednesday.”Supporters of BSP legislator Shekhar Tiwari picked M.K. Gupta, an engineer with the Public Works Department (PWD), from his residence in Gail Vihar locality of Auraiya Tuesday night,” Additional Superintendent of Police Swareshwar Mishra told IANS over telephone.

“After holding Gupta captive and subjecting him to physical torture for several hours, the legislator and the supporters left the critically injured engineer at Divyapur police station at around 3 a.m. today (Wednesday) and fled. Gupta died while he was being taken to hospital,” Mishra said.

Auraiya is some 250 km from Lucknow.

According to sources close to Gupta’s family, the engineer was being pressurised to shell out a hefty amount for Mayawati’s birthday celebrations.

Every year on Jan 15, the BSP supremo holds a big birthday bash and party leaders at various levels are reportedly directed to make their assigned contributions, which Mayawati often in the past has openly admitted.

“Despite repeatedly expressing his helplessness to make any contribution that was beyond his legitimate means, Gupta was told that he would have to pray the price for it,” a family member said on condition of anonymity.

Gupta’s family is shell-shocked and fears making any allegations on record.

No arrests have been made in connection with the killing.

“The legislator and others accused of the murder are still at large,” Mishra said.