In a letter to Chief Minister Mayawati, she also demanded that trial be shifted from Auraiya to Lucknow as the main accused, Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Shekhar Tiwari, may try to influence witnesses.

The letter, signed by Shashi Gupta and her son Prateesh Pranjal, was released by the state government on Tuesday. It stated that the family was satisfied with the police action in the case and did not want a CBI inquiry.

A statement released by the government stated that both mother and son had met Chief Minister Mayawati and told her their only interest was ensuring that the guilty is punished. Neither Shashi, nor Prateesh were available for comment.

The official statement added that Mayawati had ordered the prompt payment of all dues to M K Gupta, job for one member of the family, a suitable house for Shashi at Lucknow and action on her demand for transferring the case to Lucknow.

Contrary to the family’s stand, the Indian Engineers Federation, which is the apex body of engineers’ associations, has demanded a CBI inquiry into the murder and requested the chief minister to provide security to all engineers. Federation Chairman M Nagaraj said: “Over 15 cases of engineers’ murder have been reported in UP in recent years where the accused went unpunished. We want a CBI inquiry in the Auraiya murder case because engineers have lost faith in the inquiries conducted by the state government.”

He added that the federation doubted that Shekhar Tiwari will be punished. The all-India council of engineers will meet in Nagpur in January to decide a strategy for agitation if a CBI inquiry was not ordered.

The federation has also sought details from associations in different states where engineers were murdered or assaulted by politicians for extortion. “Till now, we have received over 200 cases. Maximum cases were from the Northeast. Over 102 cases have been reported from Bihar,” Nagaraj said. He added that the list will be submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office and seek his intervention.