Assailants fled unchallenged within 2 min after the crime

Lucknow The daylight murder of an engineering dropout, Prashant Singh, 25, at the entrance of a guarded group housing society – Alakhnanda Apartments – has created

Lucknow The daylight murder of an engineering dropout, Prashant Singh, 25, at the entrance of a guarded group housing society – Alakhnanda Apartments – has created fear among the residents.

HT Image

The CCTV footage retrieved by the police shows that the assailants fled unchallenged within two minutes after committing the crime while a security guard was present at the gate. After the incident, a group of residents has raised questions over the security of guarded societies in posh localities.

Roop Kumar Sharma, secretary of Gomti Nagar Jan Kalyan Mahasamiti, said: “If such incidents occur at a guarded society, they could happen anywhere else. We visited Alakhnanda apartments to examine the security lapse and found that many things need to be improved,” he said.

He said the security guard at the entrance was unarmed and hence could not challenge the assailants.

“Resident welfare associations are unable to afford armed guards and other security measures as LDA has not handed over corpus funds to the associations after handing over the management,” he emphasised.

“The victim entered the society in an SUV, without proper security check, followed by the attackers. The incident occurred inside the society gate. This is a big question mark over our safety and security,” said Kamal Kumar Yadav, a resident of Alakhnanda Apartments M Block.

“A group of youth breached security at knifepoint… this is quite scary. We are not safe despite guarded gates and barriers,” said Rupali Singh, another local resident.

INCIDENT CAPTURED ON CAM

A police official said the incident is captured in a CCTV camera in housing society and its footage shows that the entire sequence of events took place within two minutes – between 3.38pm and 3.40pm.

The victim’s SUV was intercepted by the attackers at the entrance around 3.38 pm. The driver tried to drive in the vehicle when the guard lifted the barrier for another vehicle having entry pass of the society, but the victim was attacked, he said.

The official said the guard, Ashok Kumar Yadav, and many other people present at the gate did not intervene. The assailants fled after stabbing the victim in front of them. “We are scanning the footages of other CCTV cameras installed outside the premises,” he added.

Attackers knew about victim’s movement

Initial police probe suggests that the attackers were waiting near the entry gate as they were aware that the victim Prashant Singh was coming to visit Alakhnanda Apartments. Singh was coming to meet his friend living in this society in the SUV of his travel agent friend Sajid around 3.15pm. Sajid’s driver was driving the SUV when the incident occurred, Singh’s friend Alok told the police.

‘RWAs unable to afford armed guards’

“Resident welfare associations are unable to afford armed guards and other security measures as LDA has not handed over corpus funds to the associations after handing over the management,” said Roop Kumar Sharma, secretary of Gomti Nagar Jan Kalyan Mahasamiti.