Gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari's aide Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva was shot dead on Lucknow court premises on Wednesday, the police said. A policeman and a two-year-old girl were injured.
The alleged assailant was caught on the spot after the shooting right outside the courtroom, the police said. Eyewitnesses said he was dressed as a lawyer and fired around six shots.
The assailant opened fire when Jeeva, who was serving life imprisonment in Lucknow jail, was brought to the court for hearing in a case, police officials said.
Jeeva (48) was a resident of Muzaffarnagar district. He was an accused in the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai and then state minister Brahm Dutta Dwivedi as well as 22 other cases, including that of fraud and criminal conspiracy.
The girl and the police constable who sustained gunshot injuries in the shooting were rushed to hospital, the officials said, adding that the child's condition was critical while the constable was in a stable state.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the constitution of a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the incident.
The SIT, which has been asked to complete the probe within a week, will be headed by ADG (Technical) Mohit Agarwal, government officials said, adding that other members of the team are IPS officer Neelabja Chowdhary and IG (Ayodhya range) Praveen Kumar.
Brahm Dutta Dwivedi, along with his gunner, was killed on February 10, 1997, in Farrukhabad district. A trial court on July 17, 2003, convicted Jeeva for commissioning the killing of Dwivedi and his gunner and also committing a murderous assault on his driver. The court sentenced Jeeva to life imprisonment in the case.
Following the shooting incident on the court premises on Wednesday, advocates staged a protest against the state police, accusing it of failing to ensure law and order and beefing up stricter security arrangements.
"Jeeva was waiting in the corridor just outside a special ADJ (additional district judge) court where he was to appear, when the assailant opened fire," said Additional Director General (Lucknow Zone) Piyush Mordia.
The incident comes hardly two months after gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were gunned down by three assailants while being taken in police custody to hospital for a medical examination in Prayagraj on April 15.
Opposition parties have hit out at the government over the Wednesday's incident.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav at a press conference in the evening said that the law and order situation in the state has worsened.
"It seems that the BJP government has given a free hand to criminals who kill whomever they want, wherever they want. Murders are happening in police custody, police station and court. People are not safe anywhere in Uttar Pradesh," said the former chief minister.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati tweeted in Hindi, "The sensational shooting that resulted in a murder inside the Lucknow court premises is a big challenge for the government in terms of law and order and crime control in UP. There is panic among the public due to such incidents. Government should take strict steps, this is the demand of BSP."
