'Shooter in Mukhtar gang', booked in 24 cases, convicted in 1 — rap sheet of slain gangster Jeeva

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh gangster Sanjeev Maheshwari alias Jeeva, who was shot dead in police custody Wednesday, was a history-sheeter booked in as many as 24 cases in Muzaffarnagar, Ghazipur and Farrukhabad districts, as well as in Uttarakhand, for murder, loot, dacoity, abduction, extortion and forgery.

His criminal antecedents, which ThePrint has accessed, show that he was the "leader of an inter-state gang with 10 members and 26 close associates".

A native of Muzaffarnagar's Adampur village, Jeeva, 48, was allegedly a shooter for the gang of jailed don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari and had links with slain gangster Munna Bajrangi.

Accused in multiple cases, Jeeva had been convicted in only one — the 1997 murder of BJP MLA Brahm Dutt Dwivedi — and was serving a life term in a Lucknow district jail. He was acquitted in 17 other cases, UP police records seen by the ThePrint show, including the 2005 murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai.

Jeeva was killed inside the SC/ST court in Lucknow, allegedly by a man dressed as a lawyer, while he was being led by police to a courtroom for hearing in a separate case.

The murder comes on the heels of the 15 April killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf, who too were gunned down while in police custody in UP's Prayagraj.

The killing of Jeeva — which police said took place at around 3.50 pm outside the courtroom of additional district judge Narendra Kumar — also grievously injured an infant girl and two constables, Lal Mohammed and Kamlesh.

The man who allegedly sprayed at least five-six bullets at Jeeva has been identified as Vijay aka Anand Yadav. He has a case lodged against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in connection with the rape of a minor. He was caught and thrashed by lawyers in the court before being handed over to the police.

Hours after the incident, a Jaunpur police team reached the house of Yadav — who had been out on bail — in the district's Sultanpur village.

According to the Lucknow police, Yadav has another case lodged against him in Jaunpur under sections 186 (voluntarily obstructing public servant in the discharge of duty) and 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease) of the Indian Penal Code.

The Yogi Adityanath-led UP government Wednesday evening put out a statement saying that the CM had ordered a high-level probe into the case by a three-member special investigative team (SIT) comprising Additional Director General of Police (technical services) Mohit Agarwal, Lucknow Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Nilabja Chaudhary and Inspector General (Ayodhya) Praveen Kumar.

It added that the SIT would submit its findings in a week, and that the CM had ordered that the infant girl and injured constables be provided the best possible treatment.

Speaking to mediapersons Wednesday, Lucknow zone Additional Director General Piyush Mordia said all injured persons were stable.

"The reason behind the incident is being probed. There was only one assailant who carried out the crime. Our first motive is to establish peace," he said.

According to the postmortem report, six bullets were recovered from Jeeva's body, which has been handed over to his family.

Also Read: Former UP DGP recalls Atiq Ahmed's ‘reign of terror’ — ‘massive minority support, political patronage’

Talking about what transpired Wednesday, Prakhar Mishra, an advocate who practices in the civil court, told mediapersons that he saw Jeeva along with five-six policemen while he was coming out of the courtroom.

"When Maheshwari turned to enter the court, a man dressed as an advocate took out a pistol and started firing at him. He fired a few gunshots and soon after Maheshwari fell to the ground," Mishra said.

He added that the man then fired eight-ten rounds around the court premises, in which a child suffered injuries. "A policeman on duty who was using his mobile phone was hit on his foot, and another policemen got injured."

Alleging that the police did not immediately take Jeeva to a hospital, Mishra said "he (the gangster) remained on the floor for about 15-20 minutes".

"The policemen kept watching as he lay on the floor, writhing in pain. After they were convinced that he was dead, they picked him up and took him away," he alleged.

Mishra also said that when Jeeva was being taken to the court, "he had five-six junior policemen with him, was wearing no bulletproof jacket and no helmet".

The advocate further questioned how the shooter was able to smuggle a weapon inside the premises when all eight gates of the court had metal detectors. "I saw him (the shooter) throw his weapon on the floor soon after the killing. He stood at the spot, raising his arms in the air."

In 2021, Jeeva's wife Payal Maheshwari, a Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader who had contested the 2017 UP assembly elections, had written to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) expressing fears that her husband could be killed.

Jeeva was then lodged in Lucknow jail after being convicted for Dwivedi's murder.

In her letter, Payal had alleged that Dwivedi's MLA son Sunil Dwivedi and slain MLA Krishnanand Rai's wife Alka, who is a BJP leader, could "get Jeeva killed either inside jail or during production in court".

Payal had requested the CJI to issue directions to senior UP government officials to provide security to her husband in prison.

Speaking to the media Wednesday, former UP chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took a dig at the BJP-led UP government, saying that if the SP reacted to the issue, the BJP would claim that the killing had been carried out by the party.

"Can they not see the incidents of deteriorating law and order? An MP from Kannauj barged into a police chowkie and beat up the entire police force there. And he is holding a function after the incident even as police can't find him," said Akhilesh.

"People are losing their lives in police custody, on court premises. It seems the government has given a free hand to (criminals) to go out and kill people wherever they want. The question is not who is being killed, the question is where they are being killed," he added.

(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)

Also Read: ‘Nahi le gaye toh nahi gaye’: Atiq Ahmed's last words before being shot dead in Prayagraj

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