UP Engineer case: BSP MLA confesses

Uttar Pradesh's ruling BSP MLA Shekhar Tiwari, now in police custody, has confessed to his involvement in the killing PWD executive engineer M K Gupta in Auraiya district, a senior police official claimed on Friday.

"The MLA has confessed to his involvement in the murder of the PWD engineer in Auraiya district during interrogation in the police remand", Addtional Director General (Law and Order) Brijlal told reporters in Lucknow.

Manoj Gupta, was allegedly beaten to death by BSP MLA Shekhar Tiwari after he refused to make a donation for Chief Minister Mayawati's birthday.

Tiwari, who was arrested for the killing, was charged under the National Security Act (NSA) and Gangster Act. The engineer's post mortem report says he had two head injuries, wounds all over his body and fractures in one arm and both legs.

The victim's family has been demanding a CBI probe even after Mayawati's refusal.

The killing of the PWD engineer Manoj Gupta to allegedly extort money for Mayawati's birthday bash has kicked up a political storm in Uttar Pradesh.

Gupta family's modest home has become the centre of a brewing political storm with the entire Opposition lining up at their door.

The Samajwadi party stepped up its demands for a CBI inquiry and said they will even ask the Centre to intervene.

"We are sure that we are not getting into any political camp, either directly or indirectly. What we have to do is to fight it out to the last end," said Gupta's son Prateesh Pranjal.

Autopsy of the body of the engineer has established that he was beaten up "mercilessly" and "ante-mortem injuries" caused his death, police said.

"A panel of doctors led by a chief medical officer conducted the post-mortem examination of Gupta's body last night and it has detected serious injuries on his head, chest, abdomen and other parts," SP Kanpur Dehat N Ravindra said.