New Delhi, Nov 11: Servant of Madhumita Shukhla and the lone eyewitness to her murder, Desraj, today identified Prakash Chander Pandey as the person who shot dead the Uttar Pradesh poetess at her residence in May this year. Pandey, arrested yesterday at Lucknow, was produced before Desraj at Unnao Jail in Uttar Pradesh where he identified him during a test identification parade (TIP), CBI sources said.

The sources said Pandey was shown to Desraj during a TIP where he identified him as the second person who had come alongwith Santosh Kumar Rai on May 09 this year, the day she was shot dead. The servant had already identified Rai, a small time political worker and arrested by the CBI on November 06, during a TIP at Barabanki Jail on November 09.

The CBI has alleged that Pandey had pulled the trigger at the poetess, the sources said. The sources said that after Desraj's identification it was now clear that Rai and Pandey had come to the poetess' residence at Paper Mill Colony near Lucknow on the day of the murder.

The CBI was now trying to find out the weapon used by Pandey in killing her.

Besides Rai, the CBI has also arrested Rohit Chaturvedi, cousin of a former minister and MLA Amarmani Tripathi, who is already in jail. The murder created a political furore in Uttar Pradesh leading to sacking of Tripathi from the then Mayawati government. The case was later handed over the CBI for thorough probe.

Tripathi was arrested by the CBI in September this year after his blood sample matched with the DNA of Madhumita's seven-month-old foetus.

Bureau Report