Murder at Madeyganj: Killing of E-rickshaw driver unsolved even after being ‘worked out’
Post-mortem examination report makes no mention of the police’s shooting claim. Body to be exhumed for another examination.
A 60-year-old E-rickshaw driver, Mohammad Rizwan, was killed in the Madeyganj area of Lucknow on December 30, 2024.

The post-mortem examination report said that excessive bleeding due to a head injury caused death - without commenting on the possible weapon used.
Meanwhile, family members got hold of a CCTV footage from a Madeyganj shop and handed it over to the cops on December 31. After sitting on it for five days, the police launched an investigation, arrested three individuals, floated a motive theory and produced the alleged weapon used - a country-made firearm - before the city’s mediapersons on January 12.
The footage shows one of the killers standing and Rizwan sitting in his e-rickshaw and it appears the two are talking. After a few moments the killer moves, sits on his bike and drives off, even as Rizwan slumps to the ground.
But, the post-mortem examination report only noted ‘excessive bleeding due to a head injury’. The family of the deceased says that this incongruency in the report could easily provide a loophole to the killers.
Among the people arrested by the police are two contract killers and the man who hatched the murder conspiracy. However, the post-mortem examination report remains a point of question with the police now re-looking into the case to check other potential angles.
Additional deputy commissioner of police (central zone) Manisha Singh said, “Yes, the post-mortem examination report suggested death due to excessive bleeding due to a head injury, but the details about the kind of weapon was not established. Now, the body will be exhumed to conduct another post-mortem examination and further legal proceedings for it are underway.”
Family members of the 60-year-old have raised questions over post-mortem examination report findings which do not mention a bullet wound, which could correlate the police claim that the contract killers murdered Rizwan by shooting him, possibly in a case of mistaken identity.
Mahfooz Khan, a nephew of the deceased said, “The post-mortem examination report has no mention of a bullet wound, and it only talks about death due to a head injury. The report is questionable, and it should be investigated.”
Rizwan’s son, Ayan, the complainant in the FIR said, “The family is satisfied with the police investigation, but we doubt the post-mortem examination report. Imagine if the CCTV was not there where my father was killed, the case would have been something else going by the post-mortem examination report.”
“After my uncle’s death, we somehow got the CCTV footage from a nearby shop and filed a murder complaint with the police,” said Mahfooz, echoing Ayan’s sentiments on the doubtful nature of the post-mortem examination report.
WHAT HAPPENED (Police version)
According to the police theory, which they made public during a press conference, in an attempt to rekindle a past love, a lawyer identified as Para resident Aftab Ahmed, 37, plotted to kill the father of his former girlfriend and junior colleague, Irfan Ali, 60. He allegedly hired Mohammad Yasir, 35, promising him ₹2 lakh in exchange for the job. Yasir, in turn, recruited Krishnakant alias Sajan, 36 to assist in the operation. The duo conducted a reconnaissance of the woman’s father’s house on December 29, 2024, but on the night of December 30, they mistakenly targeted Rizwan, who resembled the intended victim, Irfan Ali. Rizwan was killed allegedly using a firearm which the police claimed to have seized after the arrest of the three accused.
How police said the case unfolded
The incident, which occurred on December 30, in Madeyganj, was initially considered a random crime due to the lack of any clear motive or enemies of Rizwan, police said. Later, working on the case, DCP Central Raveena Tyagi had called it a planned contract killing stemming from a failed love affair. “The victim was not the intended target. The shooters were hired to kill the father of a young woman living in Mahanagar area. Possibly due to a misunderstanding, they shot Mohammad Rizwan instead,” Tyagi explained January 12, addressing newspersons.
Rizwan, a resident of Bhikampur, Mahanagar, was simply doing his job on the day of the murder, taking a passenger to Madeyganj when the attackers ambushed him.
The breakthrough came when investigators linked the murder to a love affair gone sour. Aftab Ahmed, a lawyer, had been romantically involved with a junior colleague, said police.
After the woman married someone else in Delhi, Aftab sought to reignite their relationship by eliminating her father, who lived alone in Lucknow. Aftab believed that by killing the father, his former lover would return to Lucknow and their relationship would resume.
Meanwhile, after the murder, the killers demanded their payment from Aftab, but the lawyer, realising the mistake, refused to pay, claiming that the actual target was still alive, revealed police. This led to a dispute between the conspirators, which eventually unravelled the plot.
What the CCTV footage shows
The CCTV footage shared by the family with the police turned out to be the turning point in the case after which, aided by extensive surveillance and scanning of over 200 CCTV cameras, the police tracked down the killers. On Sunday, Aftab, Yasir, and Krishnakant were arrested.
The over three-minute-long footage shows Rizwan sitting in his auto and talking to the killer in which their faces are not visible. A few moments later, the man is seen leaving on his bike after the attack (not clear what weapon he used) and right after which Rizwan is seen falling from the auto.