Ballia Firing Case: Accused Dhirendra Singh Sent to 14-Day Custody

Dhirendra Pratap Singh, the main accused in a firing incident in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district, who was arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of UP Police in Lucknow on Sunday, was sent to 14 days judicial custody by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Ballia district court on Monday, 19 October.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Amitabh Yash, IG STF, had said on Sunday that Singh and his accomplices are being questioned at an undisclosed location.

“Arms recovered from the possession of his accomplices. STF is gathering more information on the weapons used at the time of the incident,” Yash added.

Also Read: Hathras Case: UP Govt Requests Supreme Court to Monitor CBI Probe

The incident, which took place in the presence of the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) and the circle officer (CO) of the area, happened on 15 October, over a dispute at a meeting for selection of ration shops in Durjanpur village in Reoti area in Ballia district.

According to a report in NDTV, Singh filed a “surrender application” at a local court. The application allows an accused to surrender before the court.

UP BJP Issues Warning to MLA Surendra Singh

Meanwhile, BJP MLA Surendra Singh, who had publicly spoken in support of the accused, has been reportedly summoned by Uttar Pradesh BJP Chief Swatantra Dev Singh.

The Uttar Pradesh BJP leadership has warned the party MLA and asked him not to issue 'uncalled for statements on various issues', IANS reported.

The MLA, who was openly defending the main accused, was called to the state capital on Sunday evening to meet the UP BJP chief and the party's Organising Secretary Sunil Bansal.

"He was told in clear terms that if he did not mend his way and stopped making controversial statements, the party would initiate action against him," a party functionary told IANS.

ANI reported, quoting BJP sources that party national president JP Nadda also spoke with Swatantra Dev Singh, expressing his displeasure over Surendra Singh’s statements regarding the and reportedly asked the UP chief to ask the MLA to stay away from the probe.

Also Read: UP Man Shot Dead in Presence of Officials; BJP MLA Defends Accused

Priyanka Gandhi Attacks BJP Government

Earlier in the day, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra questioned the BJP on its stand in the Ballia murder case in a series of tweets. She also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda if they would still stand with the accused.

UP's Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Anand Swaroop Shukla responded to Gandhi’s tweets and accused her of "dual character".

“Priyanka has a dual character. She should have tweeted on senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on the issue of Article 370 in Kashmir. People with dual character are not successful in politics and society,” he told reporters, according to PTI.

(With inputs from PTI and NDTV)

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