In a reminder of cops being on a buffalo hunt in Uttar Pradesh six years ago, the state policemen are again fishing around to crack an equally bizarre case of theft. In 2014, entire police hierarchy of Rampur was on the toes to trace seven buffaloes belonging to then minister Azam Khan. This time round, the Bareilly police is in panic, searching for 30,000 fish missing from the farmhouse of BJP-ruled Uttarakhand’s minister Rekha Arya.
Police have launched an investigation after an FIR was registered on the complaint of the minister’s manager Madanlal Sahu against the former caretaker. Rekha Arya is a minister in the cabinet of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. The fish are missing from her farmhouse which is situated near Tulip ground in Lalpur village of Izzatnagar.
With UP witnessing rise in incidents of crime, police’s alacrity in the fish theft case is a talk of the town, a situation which reminds residents of how the buffalo hunt six years ago had turned the Rampur police into a laughing stock. One should not feel surprised if the present case of fish hunt opens a floodgate of political reactions against the Yogi dispensation exactly on the line of how the then Akhilesh government had been ridiculed for Azam Khan’s stolen buffalos.
Meanwhile, Izzatnagar police has shifted probe in the top gear. Officers are having sleepless nights ever since the case has been registered. The minister has expressed doubts over her old caretaker Vishram Singh, saying he could be behind the theft.
Minister’s in-laws are in Bareilly where she owns the farmhouse near Lalpur village of Izzatnagar police station area. Besides fisheries work in a pond there, she is also running a poultry farm in that area.
Currently, Madanlal Sahu is taking care of the farmhouse. If the caretaker is to be believed there were 30 thousand fish in the pond. He said he found all of them missing. The police have started investigation under Section 380 by registering a case of theft against former caretaker Vishram Singh.
Not only the hunt is on for the main suspect Vishram Singh but the police are also investigating to find out how the fish were caught. Police are also working on the theory that Vishram may have been assisted by some other persons also as 30 thousand fish cannot be stolen single-handedly. The prime suspect Vishram is presently at large. The investigation team is also searching the fish market in attempt to get some breakthrough there.
