Mayawati welcomes life sentence to Amarmani Tripathi

Lucknow, Oct 24 (UNI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, who had ordered a CBI probe against former minister Amarmani Tripathi, for his involvement in the poet Madhumita Shukla murder in 2003, today welcomed the life term handed to him by a Uttarakhand court.

''I would not make any observation or comment on the court verdict, but yes I welcome it,'' she told reporters here.

Amarmani was arrested in September 2003 after Ms Mayawati, during her previous stint as Chief Minister, handed over the probe to the CBI in July 2003. Amarmani was a minister in her government.

Soon after Ms Mayawati stepped down from power in August 2003, Amarmani switched loyalties to the Samajwadi Party with 39 other MLAs, to help Mulayam Singh Yadav form an alternative government.

Tripathi was arrested from his Lawrence Terrace residence in Lucknow, after a DNA match proved that he was father of a seven-month-old foetus Madhumita was carrying, when she was shot.

UNI