Deceased BJP leader staged attack on himself: UP Police

The Uttar Pradesh Police has said that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pratyushmani Tripathi, who was allegedly stabbed to death by unknown miscreants on December 3 here, had allegedly staged the attack on himself.

The police said that Tripathi planned the attack to make a strong case against some people he had a dispute with.

Police have arrested five persons in connection with the murder on the basis of call records and CCTV footages and claimed that they are known to the deceased. According to the Superintendent of Police (SP) Lucknow, Harender Kumar those arrested have confessed to their crime. The accused have been identified as Anil Kumar, Ashish, Mahendra Gupta, Prabhat Kumar and Amit Awasthi.

"Five persons have been arrested and they have confessed to their crime. They are not the ones named in the FIR by his wife. Tripathi had a scuffle with the two persons named in FIR by his wife on November 25," said SP Kumar.

"Those named by his wife were not seen in the CCTV footages and neither their location was traced at the murder spot," he added.

The police official further said that both the parties had filed FIR against each other on November 25. "Tripathi wanted to make a strong case against his opponent so that he doesn't get a bail and hence he staged the attack on himself. But the knife damaged his vital parts resulting in his death," added the official.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath declared a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the wife and children of the deceased BJP leader.