Court allows lie detector test on Raja Bhaiyya

A special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Wednesday allowed the investigative agency to conduct a polygraph test on former Uttar Pradesh minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiyya.

The court was hearing a CBI plea that it needed to get a lie detector test done on the independent legislator from Kunda in connection with its investigations into the murder of Kunda circle police officer Zia-ul-Haq, who was shot dead March 2.

The court directed the CBI to get the test done in New Delhi within the next two days. Raja Bhaiyya last week and again Tuesday agreed to undergo the test.

After hearing the pleas of the CBI and counsel of Raja Bhaiyya, the special court here reserved its ruling Tuesday and pronounced it Wednesday. The CBI had earlier asked for the polygraph test on June 6, but since the former minister was on a pilgrimage to Uttarakhand, it was delayed.

The CBI had earlier subjected the former food and civil supplies minister to intense interrogation May 15 and 16. While in the first CBI charge sheet Raja Bhaiyya's name did not figure, CBI sources say he was still not "declared clean in the case".

The CBI said it wanted the lie detector test to clarify some points and contradictory responses given by Raja Bhaiyya, officials told IANS.

Haq was killed in Kunda in Pratapgarh district after an angry mob ran berserk following the murder of Balipur village head Nanhe Yadav and his brother Suresh Yadav.

The mob chased and beat up Haq even as his security guard and other policemen left him alone to face the fury of the crowd. Four cases have been registered by the CBI for the triple murders.

Parveen Azad, Haq's widow, has alleged that Raja Bhaiyya was behind the conspiracy to kill her husband.

Following this, Raja Bhaiyya was forced to resign from the Akhilesh Yadav cabinet. The former minister has maintained he is innocent and was not afraid of any probe.