Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh), Nov 7 (IANS): A sub-inspector has been arrested for allegedly hiring contract killers to kill a person who was earlier accused for his brother's murder.

Superintendent of Police (Gonda) Santosh Kumar Mishra said that sub-inspector (SI) Akhilesh Yadav, a 2018-batch cop posted at Khodare Police Station in Gonda district, has also been suspended and a departmental inquiry has been initiated against him.

Yadav's name came up during the questioning of three men, who were arrested in Azamgarh on Thursday night with firearms.

According to police, the three men -- Deena Nath Yadav, Dafli Yadav and Devendra Nath Yadav, all residents of Gonda -- told them that they had come to Azamgarh to execute a murder on the directive of sub-inspector Akhilesh Yadav.

Police said they recovered a photograph of their target from their possession.

The Azamgarh police were tipped off about the suspects' presence at Alipur village in the Rani Ki Sarai area and the cops reached the village and caught the three on a motorcycle.

Police claimed to have recovered two country-made pistols, cartridges, and also a photograph of the target from their possession.

"The three men said that Yadav offered them money to kill a person in Azamgarh. They said that after several rounds of talks, the SI paid them Rs 20,000 to execute the murder. The three men said that they bought country-made weapons and cartridges from the money given by the SI," a said a police officer.

During the investigation, police found that the intended target, Rahul, was among the nine people arrested for the murder of SI Yadav's elder brother Rajesh, who was shot dead over a dispute linked to a panchayat election on November 28 last year.

SHO (Rani Ki Sarai) Dileep Kumar Singh said that Rahul was released on bail recently.

SP (Gonda) Mishra said he took action against SI Yadav on the basis of information provided by the Azamgarh police in a report.