Railways contractor killed in Lucknow

LUCKNOW: Three masked miscreants shot dead a bedridden railway contractor at his house after locking his wife and minor sons in a room in the Cantonment police station area around Saturday noon.
The broad daylight crime caused panic among people in the locality, who hid themselves after hearing the gunshots. Later, policemen spread all over the locality while investigating the case and questioning those seen moving on the road.
The deceased, Virendra Kumar Thakur (42), of Neelmatha locality in the area, was a native of West Champaran in Bihar.Virendra, who worked as railway contractor, was named in 20 criminal cases, including extortion, attempt to murder, said the police.
He had faced a murderous assault on him in 2019 near Charbagh railway station. The attack left him immobile with injuries in his thigh bone.
"After the attack, Virendra had beefed up security arrangements at his house. He had installed CCTV cameras at his house and also had deployed three security guards. Interestingly, one of the security guards had opened the doors of the gate when the masked miscreants stormed the house. Virendra's security guards have been missing since the murder," said Archana Singh, assistant commissioner of police, Cantonment.
Virendra's second wife Khushboo and their two sons - Ansh, 2, and Rishi, 8 - were at home while their elder son, Abhishek, was in the school at the time of crime.
Singh, while narrating the sequence of events, said that around 12.30 pm, the miscreants stormed the house and overpowered Khusboo and locked her up along with the minors in a room in the house located behind the primary pathshala in Neelmatha.
The killers then entered Virendra's room where he was lying on the bed. "They pumped two bullets into his chest and left the scene while leaving him bleeding profusely, the ACP said.
"The miscreants took away the DVR of the CCTV probably with an aim to destroy evidence," Lucknow commissioner of police DK Thakur said, adding that the police were not in the know of the escape route of the attackers.
"Virendra was rushed to SPM Hospital in Hazratganj where he was declared brought dead," said the CP who visited the crime scene to oversee the ongoing investigation of the case.
Thakur said the police had sought details from Government Railway Police (GRP), Charbagh, which is handling the case of the murderous assault on Virendra in 2019. "He would have been killed over a railway contract-related issue. We are probing all the angles and are also looking for the security guards who have been absconding since the murder," he said.