Lucknow: Two shootings in two months, 6 deaths; no clue yet about illegal weapons’ source

In the August 20 killing involving bank field officer Manas Vajpayee, and the October 26 Saadatganj triple murder involving merchant navy professional Rishabh Shukla, police recovered illegal firearms but have not publicly identified their source. The cases have raised questions about how the accused allegedly procured the weapons despite having no known criminal record.

Two shootings in the state capital within a span of just over two months have claimed six lives, but police are yet to establish where the accused obtained the illegal firearms used in the incidents.

About the source of the firearm recovered in the Saadatganj case, DCP (West) Jitendra Kumar Srivastava said the accused had not disclosed where he obtained it. (File)

In the August 20 killing involving bank field officer Manas Vajpayee, and the October 26 Saadatganj triple murder involving merchant navy professional Rishabh Shukla, police recovered illegal firearms but have not publicly identified their source. The cases have raised questions about how the accused allegedly procured the weapons despite having no known criminal record.

In Vajpayee’s case, police recovered three country-made .32-bore pistols. In the Saadatganj case, the recovery included an illegal pistol, six live cartridges, six spent casings and two magazines, according to details shared by police.

The accused in both cases were employed in professional fields. Vajpayee worked as a field officer at a reputed bank, while Shukla was associated with the merchant navy. Neither was known to have a criminal record, according to the information available in the cases.

“We tried asking him, but he did not tell us where he got it from. We will seek police remand and question the accused to find out more about it,” he said.

Tracing the supply chains of the weapons remains a crucial part of the investigations. While recovering firearms provides evidence for investigators, identifying their suppliers could help establish how the accused gained access to illegal weapons.

The August 20 shooting preceded the October 26 incident by just over two months. Police are yet to publicly establish the source of the firearms in either case, leaving a key question unanswered: how did the weapons reach the accused?

On August 20, SBI field officer Manas Vajpayee allegedly shot dead his estranged wife, Divya Mishra, outside a private bank branch in Gomti Nagar where she worked. He then returned to his residence in the Husadiya area, killed his sister and died by suicide.