Amarmani Tripathi of ‘Madhumita Hatyakand’ Walks Out of Jail: UP Cops Recount the ‘Love, Sex Aur Dhokha’ Case

For Uttar Pradesh, a capital of organised crimes and criminal-politician nexus during the 1990s and early 2000s, 26-year-old poet Madhumita Shukla’s murder on May 9, 2003 was one of the most sensational cases, which led to life terms for former state minister Amarmani Tripathi, 66, his wife Madhumani Tripathi, 61, and three others.

The Uttar Pradesh prisons department on Thursday issued an order for the premature release of Tripathi and Madhumani, as they have completed 16 years in imprisonment. Shukla’s sister Nidhi challenged the move, but the Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the release. “I have procured documents through an RTI query, which clearly state that 62% of the jail term that the two are said to have served was spent out of jail," she said.

As Tripathi and Madhumani walk out of jail, News18 revisits the case, with top cops and other officers with the UP Police, who were the part of investigation prior to the Criminal Investigation Department’s (CID) takeover, elaborating on what made it the most talked-about incident.

MADHUMITA SHUKLA’s VEER-RAS POEMS & FAN AMARMANI TRIPATHI

Shukla, who hailed from Lakhimpur Kheir district, was not born with a silver spoon. Her father, who was a forest ranger, passed away, leaving Madhumita Shukla, her younger sister Nidhi, younger brother and mother behind. “Shukla, who was good at writing and poetry, took up the family’s responsibility and started working at an early age," a police officer said.

She soon rose to fame for her ‘veer-ras’ poems and became the star of ‘kavi sammelans’. At the age of 16, she became famous for targeting political leaders in her poems. It was her fiery image that added Amarmani Tripathi, then minister, to her fan list. Soon, they entered into a relationship.

GUNSHOT SHAKES THE NATION

On the morning of May 9, 2003, a loud gunshot shook the apartment in Lucknow’s paper mill colony, where Shukla used to live with house help Deshraj. Deshraj told police that around 9 am, two people, who were known to Shukla, rang the doorbell. They entered the flat and touched her feet, after which she asked Deshraj to make tea for them. While Deshraj was in the kitchen, he heard a deafening sound.

“Deshraj rushed out of the kitchen and found Shukla in a pool of blood in the bedroom. He then called the police," a senior officer with the UP Police, who was part of the investigation, told News18.

SEVEN MONTHS PREGNANT: SHUKLA’S SISTER NIDHI ACCUSES TRIPATHI OF MURDER

Officials further said the murder case took a turn when the post-mortem revealed that Shukla was seven months pregnant. “There were more shockers in store. The real one came when her family, especially Nidhi, filed a First Information Report (FIR) naming then minister Amarmani Tripathi, his wife Madhumani, their nephew Rohit Chaturvedi, Prakash Pandey and a contract killer Santosh Rai," senior police officers said.

AMARMANI TRIPATHI: THE MOST POWERFUL UP MINISTER AT THE TIME

A gangster-turned-politician, Tripathi was a minister in the Mayawati-led government in 2002-03. Later, he switched to the Samajwadi Party (SP). He was a four-term MLA and contested assembly elections in 2007 from jail on an SP ticket. He started his political career with the Communist Party of India (CPI) and later joined the Congress. He also served as a minister in the Kalyan Singh government in 1997, in the Ram Prakash Gupta government in 1999, in the Rajnath Singh government in 2000.

THEN UP CM MAYAWATI SACKS AMARMANI, TRANSFERS THE CASE TO CB CID

On May 17, 2003, Tripathi, who was then UP stamp and printing minister, was removed from the cabinet following the controversy. Then UP CM Mayawati also held a press conference to “prevent the opposition parties from levelling baseless charges" against her government. Besides, she also took away the case from the district police and handed it over to the Crime Branch (CB) of the CID, which was directed to submit its report within a month.

UP CM RECOMMENDS CBI PROBE AND SACKS CB CID CHIEF

After the CB CID failed to complete the probe within the stipulated period, Mayawati recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the murder and also suspended the director of CB CID. At the press conference on June 17, 2003, Mayawati said the director general has been suspended for not completing the probe in the high-profile case within the time period.

FAMILY HEAVES A SIGH OF RELIEF

Officers familiar with the case said Nidhi had initially approached the Supreme Court (SC), stating the trials should be carried out either in Tamil Nadu or Delhi. However, on the orders of the SC, the trials were carried out in the Dehradun court, on the basis of the foetus’s DNA report that matched with the minister and the murder motive.

In 2007, the CBI court convicted Tripathi, Madhumani and two others, including Chaturvedi, for hatching the murder conspiracy and killing Shukla. In July 2012, the Uttarakhand High Court upheld the life term awarded by the CBI court to all four convicts. The court also handed down life imprisonment to Prakash Pandey, another associate of Tripathi.

‘CASE WAS TAKEN UP WITH ALL SINCERITY’

Amitabh Yash, a senior IPS officer who was then the Superintendent of Police (SP) CB CID, said, “Madhumita’s murder is one of the rare cases that has all Bollywood masala – crime, sex, extortion, politics and power. And this was the reason why it became so popular. The case was taken up with all sincerity. We investigated the case for one month, after which it was handed over to the CBI."

UP GOVERNMENT ORDERS A ‘PREMATURE’ RELEASE

The murder case is once again in the headlines after the UP government on Thursday ordered a ‘premature’ release of Tripathi and Madhumani, who have been serving life sentence at Gorakhpur District Jail.

The UP government’s move was initiated, citing the state’s 2018 remission policy and a Supreme Court (SC) order, which holds that lifers above 60 years are eligible for remission of the remaining sentence if they have completed 16 years in imprisonment.

Besides, the state government’s order has further directed Tripathi and his wife, who have been lodged in jail for over 17 years, to deposit two sureties of equal amount as per the satisfaction of the District Magistrate, and also a personal bond of the same amount. The order also stated that if it is not necessary to keep the two convicts in jail in any other case, the Gorakhpur DM can decide on releasing them.

SUPREME COURT REFUSES TO STAY THE RELEASE

On Friday, the Supreme Court refused to stay the release, clearing the way for the release of Tripathi and his wife. They have been freed on the basis of ‘good conduct’ in prison, as per the Uttar Pradesh government order.

HE WAS NOT IN JAIL FROM 2012 TO 2023: DECEASED’S SISTER NIDHI

“I have been telling everyone that this is going to happen. I submitted the documents to all authorities, telling them that between 2012 and 2023, he was not in jail. The government documents, which I have got through the state information commission after a long fight, show this," Nidhi told news agency PTI.

She alleged that the Tripathis have misled the authorities to get a premature release. Nidhi also said she fears for her and her family’s life in case the two are released.