The Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday arrested former Uttar Pradesh minister Amarmani Tripathi for his alleged involvement in the murder of Hindi poetess Madhumita Shukla.
The arrest came after the CBI received confirmation from Hyderabad's Central Forensic Laboratory that Tripathi's DNA had matched with that of the poetess' dead foetus, a spokesperson for the probe agency said in New Delhi.
A five-member CBI team went to Tripathi's residence in Lucknow and took him to the agency's office for questioning, sources said.
Asked if more persons would be held, the spokesperson said, "If need arises, anyone can be arrested."
On May 26, 2003, the Criminal Investigation Department of UP had sent the foetus to the Centre for testing in Hyderabad.
Earlier this month, the Hyderabad institute submitted its preliminary report to the CBI, which reportedly communicated that the DNA had matched. However, the CBI was awaiting a final confirmation.
Shukla, 24, was gunned down from close range in her two-room apartment in Lucknow's Paper Mill Colony on May 9.
The murder had created uproar in UP, leading to Tripathi's exit from the Mayawati Cabinet.
Initially, the UP police was handling the murder case. But intense pressure from the opposition and the media forced the then chief minister Mayawati to transfer the case to the CID.
But she asked the agency to complete the investigation in a month. The opposition raised a ruckus and after pressure from the Centre the case was handed over to the CBI.
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