Union minister's son booked under Arms Act day after man found dead at his home

Lucknow: Union minister Kaushal Kishore's son has been booked under the Arms Act, a day after a 30-year-old man was shot dead under mysterious circumstances at his home here, police said on Saturday.

Three men were arrested in connection with the case on Friday, police said.

According to the minister, his son Vikas Kishore lives at his Lucknow residence but he was in Delhi when Vinay Srivastava, described as his friend, was murdered at the house.

The pistol used by the accused to shoot Vinay is a licensed weapon owned by Vikas. His arms licence was valid only in Uttar Pradesh, so he did not take the pistol with him, Kaushal claimed.

"On September 1, Vinay was killed at Vikas's residence in which his licensed pistol was used. In this connection, a case has been registered against the licensee at Thakurganj police station under section 30 (punishment for contravention of licence or rule) of the Arms Act," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Lucknow West) Rahul Raj said.

The victim had a single gunshot wound to his head, Raj said.

The report for cancellation of the licence has been forwarded to officials, he said.

On Friday, three men -- Ajay Rawat, Ankit Verma, and Shamim alias Baba -- were arrested in connection with the murder that took place at the union minister's house in the early hours of the day, police said.

According to a complaint filed by the victim's brother, the three men had invited Vinay for dinner at the minister's residence, where an altercation took place in the course of gambling. In the initial investigation, it was revealed that before the incident took place, Vinay, Ajay, Ankit, Shamim and two others -- Saurabh Rawat and Arun Pratap Singh alias Bunty -- were playing cards for money and also had alcohol, police said.