murder of A Samajwadi Party Firoz Ahmed, alias Pappu, 45, a ticket aspirant for Tulsipur assembly constituency in Balrampur district, has fielded his grandfather Abdul Mashhood Khan, a two-time MLA and an alleged murder conspirator, Jeba Rehman, along with the SP here. 33 entered the fray as an independent.
Zeba, her father, gangster-turned-politician and former MP Rizwan Zaheer, and her husband are jailed in connection with the murder of former Jharkhand Ranji player Rameez Niyamat Ahmed.
The 50-year-old Mashhud had twice won the Tulsipur seat on an SP ticket in 2002 and 2012. This time voting is to be held here in the sixth phase on March 3.
On the night of January 4, on his way home in Balrampur, Ahmed, a 45-year-old local businessman who had joined the SP last October, was killed. On January 10, the Balrampur police arrested the three jailed and three others (Shakeel, Merajul Haque, alias, Mama and Mahfooz) in this connection. Police said Haq and Mahfouz were involved in the murder, while the others were charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
Tulsipur circle officer Kunwar Prabhat Singh said preliminary investigation found that Ahmed’s murder was “a result of political ambition as the accused were unhappy with his growing popularity and feared that he might get an SP ticket.” Since Rizwan wanted an SP ticket for his daughter, he conspired to eliminate Ahmed. Jeba’s bail application is pending in the Allahabad High Court. She moved the HC after a Balrampur court rejected her bail plea,” said the CO.
Jeba had contested the 2017 assembly elections from Tulsipur on a Congress ticket but was unsuccessful. she was defeated by BJPKailash Nath Shukla. Shukla is again in the fray, while the BSP has fielded Bhuvan Pratap Singh. Tulsipur constituency has around 3.5 lakh voters, dominated by Hindus, with around 2.3 lakh votes, including 60,000 Brahmin votes, followed by Muslims with 1.2 lakh votes.
Jeba’s cousin Shahid Kavi said, “She has been working in the constituency for the last seven years. We were sure that he would get an SP ticket. However, threatened by her popularity, her opponents hatch a conspiracy and frame Zeba and her family members in the murder case. His opponents were aware of his victory. The people of the constituency know the truth behind the conspiracy, and they sympathize with it.”
SP’s Balrampur district president Parush Ram Verma said that after Ahmed’s murder he had sent three names – Abdul Masood, Omkar Nath Patel and Ahmed’s wife Kahkasha – to the party high command for Tulsipur seat for consideration. “Jeba’s name was not sent because she was in jail and it would not be appropriate to recommend her. The party high command decided to field Masood,” Verma said.
Kahkasha is the current chairperson of Tulsipur Nagar Panchayat, a post previously held by her husband.
Ahmed’s cousin Musheer Khan said, “Our family is supporting Mashhood and we are seeking votes for him.”
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