LUCKNOW, Sept. 14 -- The murder of Gonda trader Vinod Kumar Sahni is rapidly acquiring political overtones, with Azad Samaj Party (ASP) chief and MP Chandrashekhar Azad demanding a CBI probe into the killing, and Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Pallavi Patel stepping in with a list of demands for the bereaved family.

Chandrashekhar was stopped in Barabanki on Sunday while heading to Gonda with hundreds of supporters to meet Sahni's family. More than 100 police personnel were deployed, and barricades were erected to prevent his entry, leading to a confrontation between the police and his supporters.

Calling the killing a "political murder," Chandrashekhar demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry and alleged that Sahni had told h...