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Lucknow loan recovery agent murder: Cops on trail of attackers; focus also on phone calls
24-year-old Shashi Prakash Upadhyay’s body was found late on Wednesday night at the Sector-8 crossing, a few hundred metres from his rented accommodation in Raghurajnagar
A day after investigators highlighted the presence of three men in CCTV footage linked to the murder of a loan recovery agent in Indiranagar, a closer review has confirmed that a fourth person was also part of the group, two attackers on foot and two others waiting on a motorcycle a short distance away.
The development has given the investigation more clarity in the killing of 24-year-old Shashi Prakash Upadhyay, whose body was found late on Wednesday night at the Sector-8 crossing, a few hundred metres from his rented accommodation in Raghurajnagar.
Police said he had stepped out around 10 pm after receiving a phone call, and was found less than an hour later lying in a pool of blood.
Through Thursday night, investigators examined Shashi’s call detail records. Around eight to 10 phone numbers active around the time he left home are now under scrutiny. “Some of these numbers are significant. We are matching locations and identifying the users,” an officer associated with the probe said.
On Friday, a team visited Vishnu & Company Finance, where Shashi was employed, and questioned staff members. Police are checking whether the murder is linked to any dispute that arose during a loan recovery or whether an older conflict resurfaced.
Fresh CCTV footage collected from nearby houses and shops has also helped police establish the attackers’ movements. The visuals show the two assailants regrouping with the motorcycle-borne pair moments after the assault and leaving the area together.
ACP, Gazipur, Anindya Vikram Singh, said four people have now been clearly placed at the scene. DCP East Shashank Singh said raids were underway to trace them. “They have been identified. Teams are out,” he said.
Police sources said they are “close to the first breakthrough”, as the phone call trail and the updated CCTV timeline are now matching more consistently than earlier.
