Uttar Pradesh Prisons Administration department issued an order on Thursday (August 24) for the early release of former UP minister Amarmani Tripathi and his wife Madhumani Tripathi, serving life terms in the Madhumita Shukla murder case.
What was the murder case?
Madhumita Shukla a poet by profession was murdered on May 9, 2003. The body was found at her home in Lucknow's Nishatganj area. At the time of the murder, the poet was 24 years old. Amarmani Tripathi, a Samajwadi Party MLA, was the main accused.
According to reports, at the time of the murder, Madhumita Shukla was pregnant with Amarmani Tripathi's child - a claim which was later proved right after forensics examinations by the CBI.
How the case unfolded
Madhumita Shukla was said to be the lover of Amarmani Tripathi. On 9 May 2003, Madhumita Shukla was gunned down at close range by two visitors in her two-room apartment in Lucknow's Paper Mill Colony. The investigation of the case was taken up by the SHO of PS Mahanagar, Lucknow Ajay Kumar Chaturvedi who collected all relevant information after a diary of the deceased was recovered. He also provided shelter to a lone witness who was a servant, and pinned the involvement of Amarmani Tripathi and his wife. Phone calls relating to the murder were traced to Tripathi's wife Madhumani in Gorakhpur who was also subsequently convicted of the murder.
The case was eventually transferred to the CBI and Amarmani Tripathi and his wife Madhumani was arrested. Such was the clout of Tripathi that the investigation was moved to Dehradun court where Tripathi and his wife along with three others were convicted of the murder of Madhumita Shukla on 24 October 2007.
