On their '27 Saal UP ka Haal' bus journey, Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sheila Dikshit and Raj Babbar on Saturday visited the residence of municipal councillor Chhote Lal who was murdered on Thursday night.They condoled his death and demanded that the victim's family be given financial assistance and his daughter must get a decent job.Ghaziabad is the first district of Uttar Pradesh on the itinerary of the the Congress leaders who started their 600 km 'bus yatra' as part of the party's preparations for the state assembly elections early next year.They spent an hour at Chhote Lal's residence.An elected member of the Ghaziabad Municipal Council, Chhote Lal was murdered by four assailants on the night of July 21, 2016 while he was sleeping on a bench outside his house here.The FIR lodged by the brother of the deceased names four persons -- Raju Sharma, Rahul, Rahul's wife Sabana and Sabana's sister Andhi -- as the accused.
"Investigation has started and one of the accused, Andhi, has been arrested" said Superintendent of Police (Crime) S.K. Singh on Saturday.On Friday, a group of councillors and traders took out a procession against the police for failing to arrest the killers. They also submitted a memorandum to the police chief to use the National Security Act (NSA) against the killers. Another memorandum that they submitted to the district magistrate said the councillor was a simple, poor person -- the breadwinner of his family -- who represented ward number 18 for the fourth term. They demanded that Chhote Lal's family be given financial assistance of Rs 50 lakh.