Had Abducted, Killed Bizman In 2021: Cops
Lucknow: The special task force (STF) on Friday arrested a criminal, who worked as a pizza delivery agent by the day, from Hardoi in connection with the kidnapping of a garment trader for a ransom of Rs 20 lakh.
Police claimed that the accused, Vishal Verma of Barabanki, had kidnapped and murdered a snack factory owner, Avinash Singh, in Sarojininagar area of Lucknow in 2021. Vishal later hung the businessman from a tree to make the death appear to be a case of suicide.
Police said that Vishal was arrested from Pali area of Hardoi following an encounter on Friday and the kidnapped garment trader, Ramji Mishra, was rescued.
Deputy superintendent of police, STF, Avnishwar Srivastava, said: “Vishal is a resident of Barabanki and works as a pizza delivery boy in Lucknow by the day. He is a notorious criminal and had kidnapped and killed a snack factory owner, Avinash Singh, and later hung his body from a tree in Sarojininagar in 2021.”
“Avinash was kidnapped while he was on his way home from the factory,” Srivastava said.
Speaking about the kidnapping of Ramji Mishra, Srivastava said that Vishal and his aides hit Mishra’s motorcycle from behind on December 19.
“After Mishra fell on the road, they bundled him in their car and took him to Hardoi. The kidnappers put a stolen SIM card in the victim’s mobile phone to make a call to the family and demanded Rs 20 lakh as ransom,” he said.
“The STF team working on the case conducted area mapping through surveillance and digital trailing and intercepted the car in which they were taking the trader,” the DySP said. Vishal was arrested after an encounter while three of his aides fled the scene.
