Cops: Gomtinagar woman was killed over money dispute | Lucknow News
Lucknow: Police on Wednesday claimed to have cracked the case related to an unidentified woman found seated upright “as if alive” in Gomtinagar’s Vishal Khand-2.Police said the case was the result of a minor dispute over money that escalated into a fatal assault during a late-night drinking session. A joint team of the Eastern Zone crime unit and Gomti Nagar police on Wednesday arrested Devendra Singh and Suraj Pal (both 24) from Vinit Khand’s vegetable market. The FIR, initially filed under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), was strengthened with Section 238 for destroying and concealing evidence. The deceased was identified as Rekha Verma (37) of Aliganj, who left home on Sunday morning and was found dead nearly 9 km away the next day. DCP East Shashank Singh said Devendra, an e-rickshaw driver, met Rekha near a liquor shop in Nawabpurwa around 8 pm on Nov 30. She asked for a lift, after which Devendra, under the influence of alcohol, called his friend Suraj, who invited them to his makeshift hut in Vishal Khand-2. According to police, during interrogation, the accused admitted that a heated argument broke out over money. Angered by the commotion, the duo allegedly pushed her. She fell backwards and hit her head on a wooden plank (takhta) inside the hut, after which she became unconscious. When she appeared lifeless, the men panicked. SHO Gomti Nagar Brajesh Chandra Tiwari said the duo waited until around 3 am—corroborated by CCTV of an autorickshaw entering the lane—then shifted Rekha’s body in Suraj’s e-rickshaw. “They propped her upright against a boundary wall near a drain, hoping morning walkers would assume she was merely resting,” he said. Her slippers were left at the spot, and her mobile phone and ID were removed to delay identification. DCP Singh said five police teams scanned around 400 CCTV cameras between the hut and the dumping site. Manual surveillance and informer inputs led investigators to the two men and their e-rickshaws.
