WhatsApp confession, 3 bodies — Chilling details emerge in Lucknow bankers' murder-suicide case

A WhatsApp confession and three dead bodies — In a chilling incident from Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow, a bank employee allegedly shot his wife, also a banker, dead for “cheating” on him, before killing his sister and shooting himself on Thursday, 30 August.

The victim, 37-year-old Divya Mishra, worked as a relationship manager in the ICICI Bank branch in Gomti Nagar. The incident reportedly took place at around 12:15 PM outside Divya's workplace.

ADCP (East) Amol Murkut, who reached the bank following the incident, said Divya had worked with the bank for the past three or four years. “The deceased woman's co-workers at the bank identified the attacker as her husband,” said the officer.

What do we know about the incident?

According to police, Divya was in her car when her husband, Manas Bajpai, was allegedly waiting in an autorickshaw. He reportedly called her outside and shot her dead before fleeing the spot.

The accused was reportedly experiencing marital discord with Divya, police said. Hindustan Times (HT) reported that the couple's divorce case proceedings were underway.

After killing Divya, Manas uploaded a confessional WhatsApp story about his wife's murder, and revealed that he was going to kill his sister and himself next, according to the HT report. He also said that Divya's sister, Pragya, and her husband Bharat Yadav knew everything about the matter.

“Today, I killed my wife as she cheated on me...now I have to kill myself and my sister...her sister Pragya and Bharat know everything,” he wrote.

Manas was subsequently traced to the Husaria area, where he allegedly shot his sister, Sheeba Bajpai, before turning the weapon on himself, the police added.

Soon after the incident, Pragya, a journalist and YouTuber, posted on social media that the ICICI Bank employee who was shot was her sister.

“I just came to know that my sister has been shot at in Gomtinagar... May God save her,” she said in a post tagging the Lucknow police commissionerate and the Uttar Pradesh director general of police.

A person running a restaurant rented from the premises where Manas lived told reporters that he saw him rushing into the residence, profusely sweating, apparently after the shooting occurred near the bank.

“I even asked him, 'Bhaiya, what's the matter? You appear stressed.' But he told me that it was nothing, just some office issues. Then he went inside,” the restaurant owner said.

Senior police officers reached the spot, and forensic teams were examining the crime scene.