The Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday said they had arrested the main accused in the murder of a Dalit student in Allahabad on February 9, PTI reported. Senior Superintendent of Police Akash Kulhary said Vijay Shankar Singh was arrested from Sultanpur in the early hours of Wednesday.

The assault was caught on CCTV. In the footage, Vijay Shankar Singh is seen hitting the Dalit student, who is lying unconscious on the ground. Dilip Saroj died after being thrashed with a hockey stick, an iron rod and bricks.

On Wednesday, the police said Vijay Shankar Singh had links with Rashtriya Lok Dal politician and strongman Chandra Bhadra Singh alias Sonu Singh. “We have many photos that link the main accused to Sonu Singh,” Kulhary had said. He added that the police would send a team to Sultanpur and will question the accused’s family members, and if required, Sonu Singh too.

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had criticised the Adityanath government over the incident. He said it showed that the state was in the “grip of criminal elements. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said the murder was the result of “narrow and casteist politics of hatred” the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party pursued.

The police had on Sunday arrested Munna Chauhan, a waiter at a restaurant where Dilip Saroj was assaulted on February 9. Chauhan allegedly hit Saroj on the head with an iron rod and then took him to the hospital.