MP, wife and son held for alleged dowry death

BSP MP Narendra Kashyap and his wife are arrested by the police in Ghaziabad on Thursday in connection with the mysterious death of their daughter-in-law Himanshi. (Photo: PTI )

Rajya Sabha MP Narendra Kashyap of the BSP, along with his wife and son Sagar was arrested on Thursday morning under anti-dowry laws in connection with the death of his daughter-in-law Himani Kashyap at their Sanjay Nagar residence here on Wednesday morning. Later, they were presented in local court that sent all of them to 14-day judicial custody.

Mr Kashyap and his wife Devendri Devi were taken into custody from a hospital, where they had been admitted after they both had complained of chest pain.

Ghaziabad police superintendent Salman Taj Patil said that the police has registered an FIR on the basis of a complaint by the victim’s father. “We have registered an FIR on the basis of a complaint by the victim’s father under Sections of 498A, 304B of the IPC and Section 3/4 of the Dowry Act,” Mr Taj Patil said.

The BSP MP, his wife and son, who is a doctor, are among six persons named by Himanshi’s family in the FIR lodged at Kavi Nagar police station.

The MP’s daughters Shobha and Sarita and his younger son Siddharth were also named in the FIR. Officials said the other three will be arrested soon.

The police said that a team of government doctors was constituted to examine the MP and his wife to determine if they actually required medical attention.

Police sources said that Himanshi’s post-mortem revealed death due to a gunshot injury with marks of blackening and tattooing (due to gunpowder) as a result of a bullet injury on her head.

“We have also taken fingerprint samples of the Kashyap family members and these will be sent for forensic examination to match with those on the weapon found from their residence. After the family members found Himanshi dead, they lifted the weapon and placed it elsewhere from the scene of crime. The weapon is a licensed revolver belonging to Dr Sagar Kashyap, but the family is yet to produce its licence,” said Mr Taj Patil.

The police has seized and sent the weapon for ballistic examination, a police source said.

Himanshi, the 29-year-old daughter-in-law of Mr Kashyap, was found dead inside bathroom of their Sector-23 Sanjay Nagar residence with a gunshot injury on her head at on Wednesday. Sagar and Himanshi, daughter of Mr Kashyap’s friend and former UP minister Hiralal Kashyap, got married in November 2013 and have a one-and-a-half-year-old son.

Following Himanshi’s death, her family arrived in Ghaziabad on Wednesday evening and her father alleged that the MP’s family used to torture her and had demanded a Fortuner SUV from her family.