Lab technician was killed within a week of kidnapping

Lab technician Sanjit Yadav, kidnapped on June 22 in Kanpur, was killed within a week of being held captive in the last week of June. This surfaced during interrogation of five suspects picked up by Crime Branch personnel who probed the case.

Addressing media persons in Kanpur on Friday, Kanpur SSP Dinesh Kumar Prabha said that Ishu alias Gyanendra Yadav of Dabauli West, Kuldeep Goswami of Saraimita Kachchi Basti, Nilu Singh of Gajja Purwa, Ramji Shukla of Ambedkarpuram (Gujaini) and Priti Sharma of Kaushalpuri were arrested for their complicity in the kidnapping and murder of Sanjit (27).

One of aides, Simmi Singh of Gajja Purwa (Sachendi) was absconding.

Besides, three bikes (including that of the victim) and a Ford Figo car were recovered from the accused.

The SSP said that Gyanendra and Kuldeep earlier worked with Sanjit in a pathology and became friends. He said on June 22, Kuldeep called Sanjit near Dhanvantari Hospital on the pretext of celebrating his birthday.

“Sanjit came from Naubasta on his bike and met his friends near a canal. There they boarded Gyanendra’s Ford Figo while Nilu followed them on Sanjit’s bike. On the way, they bought some liquor and snacks and consumed liquor in the car near Tatya Tope Nagar. As per plan, Sanjit was offered liquor laced with sedative after which he passed out. He was taken to a rented room in Ratanlal Nagar and held hostage,” the officer said.

The SSP further said that Sanjit tried to escape from their custody on the night of June 26 when they strangled him. “They then wrapped his body in a plastic bag and dumped it into Pandu river. After his death, the miscreants demanded a ransom of Rs 30 lakh from the victim’s family on June 29,” he said.

Amidst the raging controversy over the ransom being paid in the presence of police personnel, the SSP said that the bag recovered from the accused did not contain any cash. But he media persons assured that a probe was underway to examine the veracity of the victim’s kin assertion that a bag containing the ransom was thrown from a flyover down on rail tracks, as instructed by the miscreants.

The SSP also said that PAC divers were pressed into service to recover the body of Sanjit from Pandu river.

Efforts are now being made to trace the victim’s motorcycle and mobile phone which were missing since he was kidnapped.