Ghaziabad: Amarpal Sharma , former MLA of Sahibabad who was wanted by the police in a murder case, surrendered himself in a local court in Ghaziabad on Tuesday. The police had recently announced a reward of Rs 25,000 on Sharma, who was alleged of criminal conspiracy in the murder of a BJP worker in Khoda on September 2.Sharma was the MLA of Sahibabad assembly constituency from 2012 to 2017 after being elected on a BSP ticket. Prior to the assembly elections of 2017, Sharma had joined the Congress after being expelled by the BSP on charges of indiscipline.On Tuesday, Sharma surrendered himself in the court of additional chief judicial magistrate II who sent him to judicial custody. He was named as a co-accused, along with two unidentified persons, in the murder of Gajendra Bhati , who had been gunned down by two bike-borne assailants on September 2 in Khoda.One of the assailants, Narendra Fauji, was arrested by Ghaziabad police on September 11.Ghaziabad SP (City) Akash Tomar, said, "We identified one of the shooters as Narendra Fauji from the CCTV footage. He had been a gunner for Amarpal Sharma in the past. He told us during interrogation that he had been promised a sum of Rs 10 lakh to eliminate Bhati. Sharma went missing the day Fauji was arrested."According to the police, the murder occurred over political rivalry because Gajendra Bhati had been considerably growing his influence in Khoda, which was a stronghold of Sharma.Fauji named Raju Pehelwan, a national-level kabbadi player, as his accomplice in the shooting. Pehelwan was arrested by Delhi police on September 20. He told cops that he had a personal enmity with Sharma since 2013 after the duo fought over a road rage incident.Sharma's arrest comes at a time when the countdown to urban local body elections in UP has already begun. Khoda township is scheduled to elect councilors for the newly-formed Nagar Palika Parishad for the first time in these elections.

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