Lucknow, Nov 14: A group of contract killers, who had come to murder a builder near the DIG residence in Hazratganj were arrested here last night.
The builder’s murder was to take place in the next two days and a politician in Rae Bareli was on their hit list next week. They had taken the contract for the murders for Rs 10 lakh and 25 lakh respectively.
The men — Satish Singh alias Sona Singh of Ballia, Sidhhant Singh, Santosh Kumar and Vijay Sharma of Jharkhand — were carrying imported weapons and a Spanish bullet-proof vest.
Satish Singh, who leads the group, reportedly told the STF that he had met the Independent legislator from Rae Bareli, Akhilesh Singh, last week. The legislator had asked the gang to kill arch rival, a former Zila Panchayat chairman for Rs 25 lakh. The police are verifying the claim.
Builder Deepa Sardar was the gang’s target in Lucknow. Special Task Force Additional Superintendent of Police SK Singh, who made the arrest, said Harjinder Singh alias Bhola, a leading railway contractor of Alambagh, had struck a deal with gangster Rakesh Pandey, who is in Mau district jail, to kill Deepa.
Singh said Bhola had arranged for the Spanish bullet-proof jacket, a Tata Sumo and two motorcycles for the hired men. He had also shifted his family to Punjab and the killers were staying at his Alambagh home for the last three days.
Bhola’s rival Deepa is his cousin, but they had an old enmity. Deepa and his friend Bhupinder Singh Pinda had allegedly killed Bhola’s brother Kaaley Sardar in September 2003. To settle scores, in November 2004, Bhola had murdered Deepa’s sister.
Currently, Deepa and Pinda are on a tour in Bangkok and are expected to return tomorrow.
Bhola’s driver Suresh had shown the hired men Deepa’s office on Sapru Marg. On Thursday, Suresh too, was arrested along with the gangsters. Bhola is absconding, Singh added.
During his interrogation, Satish said he had brought a .38 bore Colt revolver and a .30 mm German-make pistol from Bihar for the murders. He was wanted for his involvement in the murder of a relative of former prime minister Chandrashekhar in Ballia in 2008 and another murder in Chittaranjan, West Bengal, the same year.
–Agencies