Extortion racket link behind killing of Kanpur businessman: Akhilesh Yadav

Samajwadi Party National President Akhilesh Yadav on Friday lashed out at the Uttar Pradesh government over the Kanpur businessman death case, and charged that "someone" is saving himself and there is an extortion racket linked to the matter.

Businessman Manish Gupta died in a Gorakhpur hotel during a police raid late on Monday night, prompting the authorities to suspend six policemen and book them on the charge of murder.Gupta was staying along with two friends in the hotel.

"No policeman has been arrested in the Manish Gupta murder case. This shows that they did not escaped themselves but they were made to escape. Actually, someone is not saving the accused but saving himself as its strings are linked to the 'vasooli tantra' (extortion racket)," Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.

"Zero tolerance' is also a BJP jumla (rhetoric)," he said, in an apparent reference to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's assertion that the state has zero tolerance towards crime and corruption.

A case of murder has been lodged in the case against six policemen who are absconding.

A top Uttar Pradesh Police official on Thursday claimed that Gupta died from a head injury caused by a fall as he tried to escape during a police raid at a hotel where he was staying in Gorakhpur.

He also said Gupta died at a hospital during treatment.