NAGPUR: The city claimed on Wednesday to have cracked the sensational murder of Sushil and Suresh Lakhotia. The two brothers were shot at point blank range in their office at Gayatri Lok apartments near Ambedkar chowk on May 8.
A police team which had gone to Uttar Pradesh a week ago managed to trace seven members of the inter-state gang of sharpshooters from various locations in north India, while one of their accomplices was held in the city on Wednesday. Senior officers claimed that different teams were working at Chitrakoot, Karwi, Kanpur, Lucknow and Mahoba.
Amit Verma (24), Yogendra Yadav (23), Sambhu Raikwar (28), Mangbabu Manga alias Bachcha (23), Pappu (28), Ankit Shukla (24) and Chunbath Pradhan (48) were arrested from Uttar Pradesh, while Sharma (36) was arrested from Nagpur. DCP Pandey said that Pradhan may be the mastermind behind the robbery as he kept on instructing the accused who are in police custody now.
City police chief Satyapal Singh claimed that the arrested accused were part of the inter-state gang that engaged in contract killing. The police team also recovered three countrymade revolvers, three live rounds, one mobile and two motorbikes which were used in the crime. Police said that the gang had concealed the weapons at Pintu Sharma’s residence at Ashok Nagar near Chamar nullah. Initially, the police had come to a conclusion that accused Rakesh Kushwaha alias Pappu (28) passed on the tip to the entire team about the huge financial transaction of the Lakhotia’s. Police said that Pappu started frequenting the city after he was married here.
Police commissioner Singh claimed that more arrests are likely in the case. “The police team got the first hint on May 11, and the case was cracked theoretically on May 22. It took some more time to locate the culprits and nab them,” said Singh. “Robbery certainly was the motive behind the murder as they might have got an indication of the financial transactions to the tune of Rs 80 lakhs to one crore per day at Lakhotia’s office,” he added.
While one team worked out the directions available from the call details records of hundreds of cell phones, the other investigating cells went about searching for the users who made those calls. Zonal deputy commissioner of police Madhukar Pandey’s team focused on zeroing down on the culprit through clues obtained from mobile records. “Scrutinising hundreds of call details of mobile phones for more than 10 days ultimately helped us lay our hands on the culprits,” said DCP Pandey.
The Lakhotia brothers, involved in Hawala trade, were shot at point blank range. The youngest brother Shailesh, who was rushed to a nearby private hospital with a bullet injury on his leg, survived the attack in which at least five masked assailants were involved. Putting all speculations to rest, the police claimed that the assailants may have left the place with Rs 50,000 in cash, while the police in subsequent searches managed to recover Rs 56 lakh.
Meanwhile, police has also traced and rounded up Omprakash Gupta whose cap, with Gajju written on it, was found from the spot. However, he is yet to be arrested as police has failed to establish his role in the crime. DCP Pandey said that Gajju has claimed that his brother-in-law Pappu was wearing his cap on the day of murder.
The senior officer also claimed that the Sharma’s residence was frequented by the culprits before and after the crime too. Sharma, who is basically an iron trader and also owns a club, was earlier arrested by city police in a gambling case. The police hinted that Sharma too had passed on some information to the gang. “He (Sharma) escorted some of the culprits to the railway station, from where they took the trains to escape from the city,” said DCP Pandey.
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