Budaun (UP), March 17 The district administration in Budaun, Uttar Pradesh, demolished shops belonging to the prime accused in the murder of two Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) officials on Tuesday, citing that the establishments were built on government land.
On March 12, two officials of the HPCL plant in Sejni village – Assistant General Manager Harshit Mishra (34) and General Manager Sudhir Kumar Gupta (58) – were shot dead allegedly by Ajay Pratap Singh alias Ramu, a local who was previously a vendor at the plant.
Gupta had recently terminated some employees and blacklisted vendors whose work was unsatisfactory. Singh was among those removed. Since the termination, Singh had been upset with the general manager and had threatened him on several occasions.
Dataganj Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Dharmendra Kumar Singh said that all encroachments made by Ajay Pratap Singh and others had been identified beforehand.
Notices were issued to the concerned individuals, granting them time to voluntarily remove the encroachments. However, the illegal structures were not removed even after the stipulated time had elapsed.
On Tuesday, the administration proceeded to remove the illegal structures using bulldozers.
He informed that approximately 12 roadside shops had been identified for demolition, with about six shops situated on one side of the road and six on the other.
The SDM further clarified that among the demolished structures, six shops belonged to Ajay Pratap Singh while the remaining six belonged to his uncle, Rakesh Singh.
He added that a survey conducted by the Public Works Department (PWD) revealed that the shops had been constructed illegally on government land.
The SDM also mentioned that during the investigation, it came to light that another shop belonging to the accused had been built on barren land; this shop has since been vacated and sealed.
The electricity connections for the accused's family was also found to be illegal; and a team from the electricity department has been summoned to the site, he said, adding that a separate FIR will be lodged regarding this matter as well.