Notorious gangster Sanjeev Maheshwari alias Jeeva was shot dead inside the premises of a Lucknow court on Wednesday. In the firing, an Uttar Pradesh police constable and a six-year-old girl also suffered injuries. U.P. police have apprehended one of the assailants, identified as Vijay Yadav, who is being interrogated.
After the gruesome incident, senior U.P. police officers rushed to the court while a section of lawyers staged a protest raising slogans against the police for failing to maintain law and order in the court. The U.P. police said that the history-sheeter, a resident of Muzaffarnagar in western U.P., was shot near the door of the courtroom of SC/ST court number 3 while being brought for a hearing in a case. He was being held in Lucknow jail and was said to be associated with criminal-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari.
The U.P. government formed a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by Mohit Agarwal, Additional Director General (Technical), to probe the matter within a week.
The Opposition attacked the State government, saying that such incidents led to panic. “The sensational shootout that took place in the Lucknow court premises today is a big challenge for the government in terms of law and order and crime control in U.P. There is a lot of panic among the general public due to such incidents. Government should take strict steps, this is the demand of BSP,” said the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president and four-time former U.P. CM Mayawati.
